World of Warcraft - [Dawn of the Aspects 05] - Dawn of the Aspects- Part V Read online

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Maps of Northrend

  Part V

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Notes

  Further Reading

  The Battle Rages On

  About the Author

  PART V

  ONE

  INTO THE NEXUS

  Sweat dripped over Jaina’s face as she continued to focus on her spell. The Nexus pulsated, the outer wards now visible even to a non-spellcaster, not that there were any nearby. The archmage felt the resistance to her work pushing back, but she countered it as best she could.

  And then . . . all opposition to Jaina’s efforts evaporated. The wards returned to their original states. The Nexus ceased glowing.

  Without hesitation, Jaina transported herself inside.

  To her surprise, the chamber in which she materialized looked untouched by all her efforts outside. Pushing that fact aside, the archmage used her powers to seek out any unseen threat still lurking throughout the sanctum. Finding none, she sent herself to where she last recalled Kalec being.

  He was not in sight. Panic arose, but as she peered over her shoulder, Jaina found Kalec’s prone form lying on the other side of the chamber. From what she could determine, he looked as if he had crawled there.

  Even as she thought that, Kalec’s left arm moved. His fingers scratched at the floor, and to her further dismay, Jaina saw that those fingers ended in the claws of a dragon. In fact, as she neared him, the spellcaster saw other distorted features.

  Stepping next to Kalec, Jaina almost slipped. The floor around him was slippery with his sweat. In addition to his altered state, he also appeared more emaciated.

  With growing fury, she turned her attention to the relic. It sat slowly pulsating, hardly radiating any noticeable magical emanations, and to her practiced eye seemed perfectly harmless.

  Her personal protective spells strengthened, Jaina surveyed the object. While on one hand the archmage could appreciate the elements of its creation, on the other she despised it for what it was doing to her Kalec. With that last sentiment firmly entrenched in her heart and mind, Jaina formed the reversed symbol and sent it flying toward the artifact.

  But as the icon touched it, the relic shimmered. Its energy reached through the link Jaina had to maintain with the symbol and caught the archmage square before she could dismiss the spell.

  Jaina’s world turned upside down. That was followed by utter darkness and then a babble of voices with a particularly reptilian hint to them. And that was followed by a mad array of images, including creatures she recognized as proto-dragons. In the midst of those, Jaina realized that she was a proto-dragon herself—and one whom she knew, albeit in a far altered form.

  Alexstrasza? I’m part of Alexstrasza?

  It was a very young Alexstrasza, an Alexstrasza whom Jaina had never really known existed. Through Alexstrasza’s eyes, she saw other proto-dragons whom she vaguely recognized but would not have specifically known if not for her host. She saw Ysera (a shockingly small Ysera), Nozdormu, Neltharion—Neltharion!—and Malygos.

  Each of the scenes lasted barely a breath, and many appeared to Jaina to be out of sequence. Most made no sense, and more than a few filled her with dread. The archmage saw horrific, rotting proto-dragons that were surely undead. She saw the wasted corpses of others. Most daunting to Jaina was the monstrous reality that was Galakrond, and she felt Alexstrasza’s chilling dismay as if it were her own.

  It was all too much. Jaina almost passed out under the strain. At the last moment, she imagined the reversed symbol and tried to impose it on every image that confronted her.

  With a gasp, the archmage discovered herself stumbling back from the artifact. If not for her protective spells, Jaina would have fallen and likely cracked open her skull. As it was, she had to plant herself quickly against the nearest wall and stand there for more than a minute as she fought the residues of vertigo.

  The voices still echoing in her head, Jaina looked from the relic to Kalec. She had some notion of what he was going through, but suspected that her experience had been only a fraction of what the blue dragon was caught up in.

  The moment that Jaina felt able to, she returned to Kalec. With gentle hands, she turned his face to her. Up close, his condition was worse than she imagined. He reminded her of how it had been said some of the more severe victims of the Emerald Nightmare had appeared, when thousands had fallen to the power of the Nightmare Lord and his master. They had lain helpless, unable to wake from their tormented sleep even as their minds began to waste away.

  Jaina shuddered. She had been one of those victims—one of the earliest, in fact—but until now, the extent of her condition had not truly registered with her. That, in turn, only magnified her current fear for Kalec.

  He mumbled. Jaina leaned close.

  His eyes opened wide—eyes that were pure dragon, not those he had when wearing this form. The archmage pulled back in surprise.

  A frosty exhalation enshrouded her.

  Had she not protected herself, it was very likely she would have died. Even despite her spells, the archmage could feel the intense cold. Yet this was not the breath weapon that she knew Kalec used. Rather, from the fragmented vision that she had experienced, Jaina realized that Kalec had acted as young Malygos had.

  Kalec settled down again. Jaina cautiously touched his cheek, then his throat. What he was currently experiencing in the vision, she did not know, but his blood raced.

  Ca
sting a spell, the archmage searched for the link between the artifact and Kalec, only to find no trace. She had been certain that she could locate some connection and take steps to sever it.

  That forced her focus back to the artifact. Moving more warily, Jaina inspected every visible side. She neither saw nor detected anything new. However, as she started to pay attention to the aura surrounding it, the archmage noticed something about the pulsations.

  Jaina quickly returned to Kalec and felt his pulse. This time, though, the spellcaster simultaneously turned her gaze to the relic.

  The pulsations matched the throbbing in Kalec’s throat. The artifact had become attuned to his life . . . or perhaps had attuned him to its spellwork.

  In either case, Jaina Proudmoore had a plan. With it, she believed that she could finally free Kalec from the artifact’s overwhelming influence.

  There remained but one flaw with her plan, a flaw that made Jaina hesitate to commit to it even as Kalec began mumbling again. Yes, she could very well free him, but it was just as likely that her attempt would also end in his painful death.

  Kalec renewed clawing the floor. His claws tore valleys in the hard surface.

  Gritting her teeth, the archmage saw that she had no choice. She immediately began casting.

  Casting and praying . . .

  • • •

  Malygos tore his gaze from the ever-swelling Galakrond and concentrated on Tyr. As Tyr lay there, the proto-dragons’ ally had at some point shrunken down to nearly the size he’d been when Malygos had first seen him. A desperate notion ran through Malygos’s mind, a notion that seemed desperate even to Kalec. Yet the dragon agreed with his host that there was no other recourse.

  As he had done with his own wounded leg, Malygos exhaled on Tyr’s ruined limb.

  The stump froze. The blood ceased flowing. Tyr let out a moan but otherwise seemed to calm.

  “Must take him away,” Ysera declared as she joined him.

  “Where?” The shadowed region in which the survivors hid appeared to be the most logical conclusion, but if Galakrond followed the scent of Tyr’s blood, then Malygos might end up betraying the ragged refugees. He could not bring himself to do that, and from what he had seen of Tyr, he doubted the two-legged being would have wanted such a sacrifice on his behalf.

  “Must take him away,” the yellowish female repeated. Shrugging, she added, “We find somewhere! Just far from Galakrond.”

  Kalec’s host glanced up at their monstrous foe. At the moment, Galakrond appeared lost in his latest transformation, but whether that stupor would last a few more seconds or keep on for longer was impossible to say. The fact that Galakrond continued to hover as this happened made Malygos believe that they did not have much time at all.

  Without waiting for Ysera to help him, Malygos seized hold of Tyr by his shoulders and took to the sky. Instinct drove him toward the most desolate region he could think of beyond the place where they were already. He only hoped it would be desolate enough and that Galakrond’s condition would give them the time they needed.

  Looking over his shoulder, Malygos saw a proto-dragon coming up behind him. Instead of Ysera, it proved to be Alexstrasza. With her hind paws, she seized Tyr’s legs. The weight better distributed, the icy-blue male and Alexstrasza were able to pick up the pace. They matched wing beats as they flew, the coordination further adding to their speed.

  Daring to glance back again, Malygos became both more relieved and apprehensive. Relieved because not only did Ysera follow, but also, at a greater distance, followed Neltharion and Nozdormu. Apprehensive because Galakrond had grown yet again and changed form somewhat. His body was now bulkier, and jagged spikes dotted the upper part of his torso. And although he continued to hover, he looked finally to be stirring.

  Alexstrasza, too, had been peering back at Galakrond. “Fly faster,” she suddenly suggested to Malygos. “Lower. Galakrond will not see us so soon.”

  The icy-blue male nodded—

  And the vision shifted.

  The cold, stark landscape startled Kalec, for at first, he thought he was back in his own era. The high peaks, the desolate, flat plains beyond—he knew this place.

  They were in what would someday be the Dragonblight.

  Malygos and Alexstrasza still held on to Tyr, but now they descended. A choice had been made, but why it was this particular location was not clear in Malygos’s thoughts. Kalec assumed that they had simply chosen somewhere they hoped would not be readily discovered by Galakrond.

  With extreme care, the pair set Tyr on the chilly ground, then alighted next to him. Malygos peered around as if expecting something, but even Kalec’s host did not seem to know just what he sought. Alexstrasza looked to Malygos, as did the rest once they landed.

  “Here?” Neltharion finally growled. “No good hunting. Grazers far from here. Some good hiding in mountains, but too open here.”

  “Here,” the icy-blue male replied with a certainty that did not match the knowledge Kalec could glean from his host’s mind. Malygos simply knew that he had to come to this place.

  Nozdormu looked satisfied with the vague answer but then asked, “What now?”

  Malygos looked south, deeper into the flat, stark plains that made up much of the Dragonblight. “That way.”

  He started off, only to have Ysera block his path. With a puzzled expression, she gestured with her snout behind Malygos. “What about Tyr?”

  Kalec’s host glanced back. Both he and the blue dragon had somehow forgotten the keeper’s presence. While Malygos took this in stride, Kalec wondered at the proto-dragon’s memory lapse. It was too sudden.

  Fluttering off the ground, Malygos took gentle hold of Tyr again. As far as Kalec could tell, Tyr looked no worse than before, but whether that was good or bad was impossible for the blue dragon to say. He knew only that the proto-dragons had to do more for Tyr very soon.

  But what? Kalec wondered. Had it been he to decide, he would have figured out a magic spell to preserve Tyr until some method of healing could be found, but the proto-dragons did not have any ability to do even that.

  Magic. . . . Now Kalec felt as if he had forgotten something else that was vital, something having to do with his own existence.

  Something to do with . . . the Nexus?

  Malygos chose that moment to descend again. Focusing on the landscape below, Kalec at first did not see anything other than more icy ground. Then a slightly darker spot caught his attention. As Malygos drew nearer, Kalec realized that the dark spot was a frozen lake. The blue dragon could not remember such a spot in his time, but he knew that his memory was faultier than he had originally thought.

  Landing on the edge of the lake, Malygos again set Tyr down, this time placing the keeper on his back. That allowed Kalec to study the prone form. Tyr’s breathing looked shallow but regular, and the stump was still protected by the frost Malygos had previously sprayed over it. The proto-dragon carefully exhaled on the savage wound again, reinforcing his earlier efforts. Yet, doubts about Tyr’s survival once more began to creep into the mind of Kalec’s host, doubts the blue dragon shared.

  Despite that, Malygos abruptly abandoned Tyr for the frozen lake. Neltharion and the others joined him, the four looking oddly breathless as they landed.

  “So fast!” Neltharion finally managed after taking a couple of big gulps of air. “Malygos flew so fast!”

  “Should have waited for us,” Alexstrasza reprimanded him. “Saw a not-living far that way.” She indicated the west. “Maybe others near. . . . If they see us, Galakrond sees us. . . .”

  Malygos saw nothing in that direction, and to Kalec he seemed not inclined to be concerned despite Alexstrasza’s sensible words. Again, it was not Malygos as Kalec had come to know him.

  The icy-blue male continued to the frozen lake. As he peered down into it, he and Kalec saw some slight movement
in the water. That his host was hungry Kalec could understand, but Malygos bordered on the obsessive.

  In fact, Kalec’s host was persistent in pushing the other four to join him. “Come! Must eat! Strength needed!”

  Neltharion obeyed without question, his appetite always the greatest of the five. Nozdormu looked dubious, then nodded. Ysera quietly followed the three.

  Only Alexstrasza did not move. “What of Tyr?”

  “He sleeps,” the icy-blue male responded. “Let him.”

  The answer was not said with coldness but with practicality. Alexstrasza considered the suggestion, then finally nodded and joined the four. Kalec would have preferred that someone watched Tyr, but now all five of the proto-dragons were eager to feed.

  The ice supported not only Malygos’s weight but also that of the rest of the group. Nozdormu scratched at the ice but, despite his sharp claws, made little headway. Neltharion looked ready to stomp on the frozen surface—which would have no doubt shattered all the ice, including where the five stood—but Alexstrasza quickly hissed and shook her head.

  With the others watching, she chose a spot a little farther into the lake, then carefully exhaled. The concentrated flame melted a hole into the thick ice until water bubbled up to the top. She expanded the hole until it was a satisfactory width.

  Although Alexstrasza had created the hole, she let Neltharion feed first. He eagerly leaned over it, then suddenly thrust his head down.

  The charcoal-gray male withdrew, a thick fish in his mouth. Grunting with satisfaction, he stepped back.

  Alexstrasza went next, her task taking slightly longer before she caught sight of her prey.

  Malygos finally took his turn. He had barely leaned over when another fat fish swam into range. Catching it was as simple a task for Kalec’s host as it had been for the others.

  As the icy-blue male backed away, Ysera moved toward the hole. Malygos turned to the shore, his catch still wriggling in his jaws. Once off the ice, the proto-dragon surveyed the chilly landscape. There was no sign of either Galakrond or any of the undead. Malygos focused his attention on the fish, tearing into it with such gusto that Kalec wished his host would shut his eyes so that the blue dragon would not have to watch.