Night of the Dragon

TWENTY

He was alive. Krasus was not surprised by that miracle, but neither was he entirely pleased. Kalec's attack had failed, but failed for a darker reason.

'Ah, the great Korialstrasz...defender of the lesser races, savior of Azeroth... the grandest fool ever born...' declared the voice of Deathwing's consort.

Krasus could barely move. It was painful just to lift his head enough to see her stride toward the re-crafted Demon Soul and touch it as a loving mother would a cherished offspring. The dragon mage doubted that Sinestra had ever treated Nefarian or Onyxia so, but then they had not existed solely for her ambition and madness. The Demon Soul had no mind of its own, no potential dream of independence....

'It shall—it shall never w-work!' he managed to croak. 'In the end—you shall only have—have disappointment—and death...'

'Preach not to me, Korialstrasz,' the black dragon mocked, now peering up in amusement at a stunned Vereesa. 'Yes, my darling, you are also alive, albeit temporarily. You should thank me for that miracle. All the force this impetuous young fool sought to unleash was steered elsewhere through my good efforts....'

Krasus snorted. 'It was—it was your vile whispering in—in the blue's mind in the first—first place that made him cast such a force of violence.'

'Of course! He made such a wonderfully delectable choice! You can imagine how enjoyable it was to find out not only that he was alive, but that his thoughts were in such distress that I could easily manipulate them against you! Your continual interference in theaffairs of the world has left you with many like him, Korialstrasz....'

'And you are—are breeding your own destruction. S-Sinestra! You cannot—cannot control what you have wrought! Think upon that before it is too late—'

She gave a curt wave with her hand, and he went flying up against the celling. Krasus screamed as he hit, but not only because of the force.

The point of a long, wicked stalactite—a stalactite reinforced by the black dragon's power—thrust through his chest.

A stream of the red's life fluids drizzled onto the chamber floor. Krasus gasped, yet, despite what seemed a mortal wound, he remained conscious.

'All goes as I desire, my darling Korialstrasz, and always has! I have adjusted for every eventuality and although I will grant you some surprise on my part at your ability to escape the chrysalun chamber, your act only served to enable me to bring matters to a swifter and more satisfying conclusion!'

'You will—you will only bring yourself to—to a swifter doom, I tell you! Even now—'

'Even now, your other companions are trying in vain to either escape or, in the case of two, actually dare to free the nether dragon....' She smiled at the expressions of both the dragon mage and the ranger. 'Ah! Some of this is not known to you? You, my dear high elf, should be especially interested, as I do believe that with the draenei who is known to both of you, there is a human wizard...a human with the red hair marking him as Korialstrasz's favored lackey!'

'Rhonin?' Vereesa gasped.

'Such a loving mate...' The veiled figure's expression momentarily hardened. 'Such a loving mate...' The sense of triumph returned. 'But they are both merely readying themselves to add to the reservoir of magical energies I have been collecting for my new children....'

A savage roar shook the chamber, almost sending Krasus failing to the floor. At the last moment, Sinestra reinforced his agonizing captivity.

'Listen—listen to that—Sinestra! Each time he cries out, your creation sounds larger, stronger....'

'But, of course! That is the point! Really, Korialstrasz, I think your mind is finally going.'

The cowled figure managed to shake his head. 'You will never understand until it is—' He groaned.'—is far too late...'

She laughed. 'Do you feel the weakness spreading? Do you feel the numbness embracing you? When I gathered up what fragments there were of the Demon Soul, I found within it a residual energy like none I had ever seen. More interesting, the pieces appeared to be trying to draw in more energy, as if seeking to rejuvenate my dear, unlamented mate's creation.' Sinestra caressed the gleaming construct, 'it was as if fate had granted me its favor. I already had Balacgos's Bane, which would work so hand-in-hand with what was left of the Soul that it was almost as if I had planned it myself!'

Krasus knew of Balacgos's Bane, a cube of cerulean created by one of Malygos's elder offspring. All blues were caretakers of magic, but Balacgos had gone one step further; he had designed the cube to deal with a situation that he thought endangered Azeroth... the unharnessed latent magical energy that was spread throughout the world, magical energy that no one controlled, but that could be used by any unscrupulous practitioner of the arts who came upon them.

The cube had been designed to seek and take into itself any such energies that it sensed. One only had to activate it with their own power. The cube was intended to be a reservoir, keeping that magic available for when the blue flight might need it.

But upon first using his grand creation, Balacgos had discovered a small error in his calculations. The cube had sensed nearby magic and absorbed it...but that magic had been the dragon's.

The other dragons had found him a dried husk, blues being so much a part of magic itself that it was as much their life as their blood or other life fluids.

This had been in the ancient times when Malygos had still been truly sane and Deathwing had yet been the trusted Earth-Warder, Neltharion. Krasus recalled with some irony that, in order to keepthe cube from doing harm to his people, Malygos had, on Neltharion's suggestion, passed it on to his trusted friend to bury deep within Azeroth.

It had been like giving an assassin a dagger and telling him not to use it.

Still, like what remained of the Demon Soul, Balacgos's Bane had obviously had its purpose altered. Now, the two artifacts gave Sinestra the ultimate matrix for absorbing the energies she needed to create a dragon such as had never flown any world's sky.

'It will not take much longer for both of you to be drained of what I need,' Sinestra explained. 'In the meantime, I shall see to the draenei and the human. Their powers with yours will make a delightful mix! A shame you will not be alive to see what I create with it, Korialstrasz! I think that even you would find it most interesting....'

Krasus tried to retort, but the combination of his wound and the weakness from the draining were too much. He could only stare at the black dragon...and the infernal artifact.

'Oh, yes,' cooed Sinestra. 'One other thing you should know. You would have never managed to destroy it, anyway. I have worked hard to make certain that no power born of Azeroth can shatter the Soul this time. Including any black dragon's scale, much less my late lord's....'

'You have—only made matters more terrible—then.'

'You are persistent, are you not, Korialstrasz? I shall miss your blind determination, I shall....'

The dark lady laughed once more...and vanished.

'Krasus!' Vereesa called. 'Is there nothing that you can do?'

He shook his head. It was all that he could do to keep conscious and soon that would even be beyond his ability. The dragon mage eyed Kalec. The blue's face was very pale and even the red's sharp eyes could barely detect movement of the chest.

'Then... I must hope that—that this will work!'

Krasus heard a scraping sound from the ranger's direction, but could not see what might be the cause. Then, there came a sharp crack—

'Unnh!' The clatter of rock filled his ears. A moment later, the dragon mage heard footsteps.

A figure moved below him. Krasus managed to focus enough to see Vereesa standing there.