Twilight wings struggled to fit within the cramped space of a silithid hive. The drakeās neck craned down at a nigh-impossible angle simply to regard her draenei companion, twisted master that he was now. His dark visage fit in well with the smattering of bones, blackened husks of varying humanoids, and further detritus within the caved-in tunnels.
The true spectacle was the final result of several monthsā work: drained corpses had piled up around a pool of their mixing blood, churning with rage and defiled with equal parts viscous obsidian liquid. This unholy power crept out from beneath to feed a crude totem built to contain the ever-present eye of an Old God. Avaruu had ensured that his lords would see his work.
Now he would see theirs, for Nyāalotha had been exposed to their reality.
āYour mind wanders too much, Tes. Look at me.ā
The drakeās attention snapped back into focus.Ā āI think it fair to say that you taught me as much.ā Her deadpan statement would once have been taken as a friendly jab, the simple act of poking fun at the mortal whom had raised her since the Cataclysm.
Now only a cold stare remained. No matter where Tesperxiaās burning gaze went, it met with the steely harshness of a monster ready to torment and slaughter his way into favor with his Gods.
She looked around him, at him, through him, but she could no longer see him.
āKeep watch over me, Tes. You know I trust you more than anyone.ā
If only it were so. Her senses, heightened as they were, alerted her to a sea of lesser presences. Chittering silithid, responding to the unholy mental call of an Old God servant. Desiccated husks overtaken by his black blood experimentation, the final failure of Avaruuās grand idea of a GodborneĀ legion and reanimated all at once by the sheer willpower of their creator.
He would not need them at his masterās seat.
Tesperxia watched in silence as the draenei turned his back to her, stepping once into the miasma pool. The concoction reacted immediately to his corruption, reaching upward to meet writhing tendrils which erupted from weeping cracks in the hooves.
She knew the gesture of his thrashing tail despite silence otherwise. He was in agony, but agony was never enough to turn him away from this course.
The other hoof plopped into the shallow well, both taking extra steps to place Avaruu in the center. His lordsā gaze now sat still within its totem-cage, fully transfixed on Their servant. His head turned only enough to regard the Twilight drake one last time.
āListen to the rushing of your blood. Listen to the song in your mind. When I come back with the Black Empire upon my heels to overtake this plane, know that our God will gift you a thousand-thousand more realms to conquer with me.ā
Tesperxiaās stony expression never wavered.Ā āI will defend you and your will until my dying breath, Avaruu. We will meet again soon.ā
Satisfied with this response, he finally turned away in full, focused on the impending ritual. The swirling pool had begun to lift itself and surround the draenei, serving as the power conduit for his mad journey into the abyss.
Then, he was gone. The draenei remained, the mind had departed. He would not return until the merging of NāZothās realm into Azeroth.
I am sorry. I can never let you return.
She turned to face the rest of Avaruuās haunt, the hive filled with his grotesque experiments and fleshy growths. His words had rung true - her Twilight blood was designed to serve the Old Godsā will. Her birthright was that of the most powerful Dragon Aspect to ever live, and her claim to life was through voidfire and destruction.
Yet there she stood, ready to betray all of it. Her loyalty was to her master, not the dark presence which had finally stolen his mind and body.
You were you, until you were not.
Dozens of empty eyes fell upon the drake. She was already well on her way to wyrmhood and could easily overpower these creatures. Surely Avaruu would have known this? Were they simply waiting for her to make a mistake? Would the death of one rip their overlord from his trance and ensure her demise?
This is my only chance.
Violet talons dug into the despoiled dirt below Tesperxia. Her wings folded inward to an awkward degree, shielding her sides as her vulnerable underbelly touched onto the ground. Both silithid and reanimated husk poised to strike, encroaching slowly on her position.
As soon as she inched forward, they were upon her like vultures to carrion. Claws and teeth ravaged against her leathery wings and glimmering scales, drawing acidic blood that sizzled against the flesh of her assailants. Each was treated as a living bomb and potential alarm as the drake belly-crawled in careful silence across the hive chamber towards the exit, putting her thoughts away from the pain as much as she could.
Tesperxia envisioned the future that had been promised to her. Visions of chaos came as easily to her as breathing - endless dreams of tearing apart the fabric of reality and soaring amidst the smouldering ruins of any that opposed the Voidās bleak crusade. Her flight, Lord Deathwingās final pride, would know eternal power and prestige.
But then she saw the draenei that she once knew, that surprisingly soft mortal cultist who once cherished his new Twilight drake. The one who could simply no longer cope with the wrongs of his past but would still suffer any pain for his familyās sake.
Family. Venita, whom heād loved so much as to bear a veritable brood between the two (though Tesperxia had noted that the termĀ ābroodā was never appreciated.) Areduun, the vehemently irreligious draenei who had a knack for untangling difficult situations and maintaining some semblance of sanity between everyone.
My family.
There were others, of course, but only those two would stand a chance in the Old Godās realm given their masteries, however different they were, of the Void.
The drakeās thoughts returned to the present. With them returned her senses, and the stabbing sensations throughout much of her body. She was now in the hiveās exit tunnel, no longer pursued by abominations - they must have stopped before leaving the main chamber. Streaks of midnight blood followed in her wake, and she could feel the drafty outside air flowing through some of the tears in her wings.
Just like you, I will do what must be done, no matter my suffering. You taught me too much to let this continue any further.
Jagged stones and sand bit into Tesperxiaās open wounds as she clawed her way out of the unstable cavern and into the overbearing heat of Silithus. There was no way that she could maintain her Draenic disguise for easier travel in this shape. She would have to fly all the way to Pandaria, to her family, to rouse them.
Her wings were thankfully intact enough for flight, painful as it was at first. There was no time to wait for mending.
We must stop him, before he destroys everything.
---
āMm-hm. Mm-hm... ooh! This oneās good.ā
Anryssaās stubby tail wagged with excitement once she picked up a smooth jade pebble. Most rocks would end up in the ocean for fun, but not this one. She pocketed the pebble and just as much dirt with it.
Sri-La Village was silent. Rock hunting in the yard was Anryssaās favorite activity when the other pandaren children were not out and about. She just didnāt tell her mother nor Areduun that she was sneaking out in the dead of night for it.
A shadow passed over the child. Clouds normally blotted out the moon for a time, but this one was too large, too quick.
Thunk.
Only moderately terrified, Anryssa turned in the direction of the noise. A dark and battered form lay before her, heaving with struggled breath and outstretched wings flat upon the walkway. She knew this dragon!
āTes!Ā Are you okay? Is Daddy with you?ā Fearless, the little draenei placed her hands upon Tesperxiaās monstrous snout, leaning down to stare the drake in one eye.
āTell them... they must... they...ā
Anryssa listened as Tesperxiaās breaths fell short, followed by closing eyes. She might have suspected the drakeās death, but had been taught better. Just wait, Areduun had once told her. The truth always reveals itself to a calm mind.
Her brief patience had won out. She heard faint breathing still, ragged but steady. Her Daddyās dragon was sleeping, not dead - enough time for her to go and get help.
āMommyyyy!ā Anryssa hoofed it back to the houseās front door, hoping Venita would awaken to her shrill wail as she swung the door open.Ā āTes is home and sheās NOT OKAY!ā
---
Areduun was already awake, reading in silence at his desk as he usually did until the daylight hours. Even before Anryssa had yelled from the front door, a metaphorical dagger twisted through his gut. It was only a matter of time before the Godborne parasite would haunt them again, this time backed by its home realm.
This would be Salvationās endgame, a decade in the making.
A monthly patronage commission. Got carried away with this one, yeah, but I did it for my own leisure. :> Thisās totally something Iād come up with on my own eventually, but as I lack dedication when drawing āfor myselfā, Iām extra grateful for the opportunity. Finally something to put next to my Dragonās Stand piece.
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