brother! You see? Nothing else compares!'
He continued shouting to an absent Malfurion. Rhonin, still seeking to regain his strength, could only stare. Illidan's avarice, his jealousy, was so apparent that it almost bordered on hatred for the druid.
Rhonin's spell had sent the demons into flight, possibly turned the tide of the war forever…but as he watched Illidan's intense expression and thought of his own near seduction by the Well, the wizard wondered if he had just unleashed something more terrible on the night elf race.
Korialstrasz brooded, his patience growing very thin. The dragons had all been ordered to await the word of the Aspects. When that came, every flight would take to the air as if of one mind, one soul. The plan was to descend upon the demons as a terrifying force, the Dragon Soul ripping apart the demon lines before the leviathans themselves struck.
A simple, workable plan. A faultless plan.
A plan that, for reasons he could not express even to himself, Korialstrasz did not trust.
But the male red was loyal to his queen, his mate, and so he did nothing. Alexstrasza trusted in Neltharion's creation. More to the point, she trusted in the Earth Warder himself. Whatever uncertainties Korialstrasz had, they had to remain unspoken.
'Ever the thinker, my love. Ever the worrier.'
He raised his head in surprise as the gigantic female entered his lair. 'Alexstrasza,' he rumbled. 'You are to be with the other Aspects…'
'I have made excuses for my momentary absence. Neltharion is not pleased, but he will have to control himself.'
Korialstrasz lowered his head in homage to her. 'How may I be of service to you, my queen?'
A hint of indecision glinted in her eyes. In a voice so very quiet for a dragon, she replied, 'I need you to disobey me.'
Her consort was perplexed. 'My love?'
'All save the sentinels that each of us posted are supposed to remain in this, the vastest of the cavern systems, until the moment of the launch. I wish you to ignore my earlier command and leave.'
He was stunned. Clearly the other Aspects were not to know of this departure. 'And where am I to go?'
'I don't know precisely, but I hope that you'll be able to sense exactly where once you're beyond the barrier. I want you to find Krasus.'
Krasus. The mysterious mage had been much on the mind of Korialstrasz, too. Krasus likely knew things that would have cleared up much that disturbed the consort. 'He should still be with the night elves-'
'No…he was near us only a short time ago. Ysera told me that a night elf called Malfurion sought to act as his messenger through her. However, she distrusted such an action, and so made the night elf wait until the moment was right.'
'And?'
'When Ysera sought for Malfurion again, he had vanished. She told me all this while Neltharion and Malygos discussed the spellwork of the Soul.'
'But why would Krasus come here?' The anxieties felt by the male red multiplied. The journey from the lands of the night elves was quite a distance for one who could not fly several miles in the space of a few minutes.
'That is what I want to know.'
'I'll do my best to find him, but it may prove harder than you imagine.'
The queen snorted. She shut her eyes in thought for a moment, then nodded. 'Yes, you must know now.'
'Know what?'
'My love, you've felt the closeness between you and Krasus. You would almost describe him as a clutch brother, wouldn't you?'
He had not thought so before, but now that Alexstrasza said it, Korialstrasz realized that, yes, Krasus did hold such an esteemed place in his heart. It had nothing to do with the scales they had shared to overcome their weakness; something about the mysterious figure had made the consort come to trust him as much as he did his glorious mate.
And, at times, even more so.
Alexstrasza read his face. 'Know this, my love. The reason you and Krasus are so close is that he and you are one and the same.'
The male red blinked. Surely he had heard wrong. Surely Alexstrasza meant something else.
But she shook her massive head, stating, 'Krasus is you, Korialstrasz. He is you much older, much more learned, much wiser. He is you countless centuries forward.'
'That is impossible-' A sudden thought occurred to him. 'Is this some trick of Nozdormu? His absence has been very questionable…'
'Nozdormu has some part in this, yes, but I can't tell you exactly how. Just understand that Krasus is here because he must be.'
'Then, the outcome of the war is assured. The Dragon Soul will help us triumph over the demons. My concerns were for naught.'
'Your concerns are valid. We don't know anything about the outcome. Krasus fears that Nozdormu has sent him here because the timeline has shifted. There was a point where I had to consider eliminating him and his companion in order to preserve it, but it soon became evident that matters had gone beyond such.'
Korialstrasz gazed at her with wide, wondering orbs. 'You would have slain…me?'
'At his insistence, my love.'
He mulled that over and saw her reasoning. 'Forgive me. Yes, my queen, I'll go searching for him.'
'I thank you. His memories were much damaged by the journey to our time, perhaps because he already existed here as you. Still, he is sharp of wit in most ways, and if there is something he urgently needed to discuss, then it behooves us to find him.'
'I go immediately.'
Alexstrasza dipped her head in gratitude. 'I must pretend that you do this by your own leave, Korialstrasz.'
'Of course. I won't fail you, my queen.'
She gave him a most loving look, then departed his lair. The male waited just long enough for her to be nowhere near, then left, too.
To his relief, it proved not at all difficult to leave the mountain itself, for most of the dragons now sat poised, awaiting the command to fly. The few others were like himself or Tyran, consorts with positions of leadership who had to be near if the Aspects needed them.
Evading the sentinels beyond was slightly more troublesome. The first-of his own flight-he managed to evade by being aware of the other's personality traits. Horakastrasz was a young, eagle-eyed male, but he had a tendency to become distracted. As Korialstrasz came upon him, the bored guardian had begun batting large rocks into the air with his tail, then watching them plummet to the ground far below. As he hit the next, Korialstrasz soared over him, flying high enough that the other red would not sense the shift in the air currents.
By one means or another, he passed the rest undiscovered. As he flew toward the barrier, Korialstrasz prepared himself for contact. He struck the invisible wall head-on, feeling as if he pushed through molasses. Wings flapping as hard as possible, the dragon burst through the other side, soaring miles beyond before he managed to regain proper control.
Perching on a squat mountain, Korialstrasz quickly imagined Krasus. For good measure, he touched with one claw the scale that his older self had traded to him. So much made more sense now; he had wondered why the exchange should aid the pair so well. By doing so, the two halves of himself had become more complete. Korialstrasz still suffered some pain and weariness, but nowhere near what he had before that event.
He put all his concentration into finding Krasus, seeking that link that only two who were one could possibly have. The dragon doubted that his other half was still near, for if it had been him-and it was-Korialstrasz would have continued seeking some way to enter. He would not have gone into hiding. Therefore, circumstances had
