woman came between them.
“And this is why Deathwing has nearly triumphed,” she murmured.
The two reluctantly backed down. Ysera turned to face everyone, her eyes still closed.
“Deathwing almost had us once, but we joined ranks again and made it so that at least he himself could
never wield theDemon Soulagain. We forced it from his hand and into the bowels of the earth—”
“But someone found it for him,” interjected the red dragon, pulling himself together as best he could,
now that hope had evidently returned. “I believe that he may even have led the orcs to it, knowing what
they would do once they had it. If he cannot use it himself, he can certainly manipulate others into
wielding it for his purposes—even if they do not realize it. I—I believe that it suited his plans for
Alexstrasza to be captured, for she not only remained the lone power he feared, but it helped the Horde
to wreak further havoc in the world without the dark one raising a paw in effort. Now . . . now that it is
clear that the Horde has failed him, it better serves his purpose for the orcs to move her.”
“Not her,” corrected Ysera. “Her eggs.”
“Hereggs?” the former Krasus blurted. “Not my queen herself ?”
“Yes, the eggs. You know that the last of his mates perished in the first days of the war,” she replied.
“Slain by his own recklessness . . . so now he would raise our sister's get as his own.”
“To create a new Age of Dragonssss . . .” spat Nozdormu. “The Age of Deathwing'sss Dragonsss!”
Suddenly Rhonin noticed that the four now stared at him, even Ysera with her closed eyes.
“We cannot touch theDemon Soul,human, and out of distrust, we have never tried to make another
creature wield it for us. I believe I know what poor Korialstrasz here desired so much of you that he had
to drag you from your friends, but while it seems the best way, he will not now be the one who keeps
Deathwing occupied.”
“It is my duty!” roared the red. “It is my penance!”
“It would be a waste. You are too susceptible to the disk. Besides, you are needed for other reasons.
Tyran, who fights now for both his queen and his captor, will not survive. Alexstrasza will have need of
you, dear Korial.”
“Besides, Deathwing is ourbrother,”mocked Malygos. The talons dug deeper into the rock. “It's only
right thatweshould play with him, we should play with him!”
“What do you want me to do?” Rhonin asked, eager yet also anxious. Whathewanted most was to
return to Vereesa.
Ysera faced him—and her eyes opened. For a brief moment, vertigo seized control of the human. The
dreamlike eyes that stared back reminded him of everyone he had ever known, hated, or loved. “You,
mortal, must take theDemon Soulfrom the orc. Without it, he cannot possibly do to us what he did to our
sister and, by taking it, you might be able to free her from his control.”
“But that will not deal with Deathwing,” Korialstrasz insisted. “And because of the cursed disk, he
stronger than all of you together—”
“A point of fact we know,” hissed Nozdormu. “And ssso did you when you came to usss! Well, you
have usss now! Be sssatissfied with that!” He looked at his two companions. “Enough babble! Let usss
be done with thisss!”
Ysera, her eyes closed again, turned to the dragon. “There is one thing you must do, Korialstrasz, and it
does entail risk. This human cannot simply be magicked into the orcs' midst. TheDemon Soulmakes that
risky, and there is also always the chance that he will find himself under the ax when he appears. You
must instead bear him there—and pray that for the few seconds you are so near, the orc does not bind
you to the foul disk this time.” She walked up to the stricken dragon, touching the tip of his muzzle. “You
are not one of us even if you are her consort, Korialstrasz, yet you fought theDemon Soul's hungry grasp
and escaped—”
“I worked hard to build myself up for that, Ysera. I thought I had cast my protective spells better, but in
the end I failed.”
“We can do this for you.” Suddenly, both Malygos and Nozdormu stood beside her. All three had their
left hands touching Korialstrasz's muzzle. “So much power theDemon Soultook from us, a little more will
not matter. . . .”
Auras formed around the raised hands of the trio, the colors reminiscent of each of those contributing.
The three auras combined, rapidly spreading from the Aspects to the dragon's muzzle and beyond. In
seconds, Korialstrasz's entire immense form lay bathed in magic.
Ysera and the others finally backed away. The crimson behemoth blinked, then rose to his feet. “I
feel—renewed!”
“You will need all of it,” she remarked. To her two companions, she said, “We must see to our errant
brother.”
“Abouttime,I would sssay!” snapped Nozdormu.
Without another word to either Rhonin or the red dragon, they turned away, facing the distant form of
Deathwing. As one, the trio spread their arms wide—and those arms became wings that expanded and
expanded. At the same time, their bodies widened, grew greater. Away went the garments, replaced by
scale. Their faces lengthened, hardened, all vestiges of humanity shaping into draconic majesty.
The three gargantuan dragons rose high in the air, a sight so impressive that the wizard could only watch.
“I pray that they will be enough,” muttered Korialstrasz. “But I fear it will not be so.” He looked down at
the tiny figure next to him. “What say you, Rhonin? Will you do as they bid?”
For Vereesa alone, he would have agreed. “All right.”
The fight had early gone out of Tyran, and now so had the life. Deathwing roared his triumph as he
clutched the limp form of the other dragon high. Blood still seeped from a score of deep wounds—most
of them in the red's chest—and Tyran's paws were covered with burns, the cost of touching the acidic
venom that dripped from the fiery veins coursing along the black's body. No one who touched
Deathwing did not suffer in the end.
The dark one roared again, then let the lifeless form drop. In truth, he had done the ill red a favor; would
not the other dragon have suffered worse if he had been forced to continue to live with his sickness? At
least Deathwing had granted him a warrior's demise, however easy the battle had truly been.
Yet a third time he roared, wanting all to hear of his supremacy—
—and found instead answering roars coming from the west.
“What fool now dares?” he hissed.
Not one fool, Deathwing immediately saw, butthree.Notanythree, either.
“Ysssera . . .” he greeted coldly. “And Nozdormu, and my dear friend Malygosss, too . . .”
“It is time to end your madness, brother,” the sleek green dragon calmly said.
“I am not your brother in anything, Ysera. Open your eyes to that fact, and also that nothing will prevent
me from creating this new age of our kind!”
“You plan only an age in which you rule, nothing more.”
The black dipped his head. “Much the same thing, as I see it. Best you go back to sleep. And you,
Nozdormu? Pulled your head out of the sand at last? Do you not recall who is most powerful here? Even
the three of you will not be enough!”
“Your time isss over!” spat the glittering brown behemoth. Gemstone eyes flared. “Come! Take your
place in my collection of thingsss passst. . . .”
Deathwing snorted. “And you, Malygos? Have you nothing to say to your old comrade?”
In response, the chill-looking, silver-blue beast opened wide his maw. A torrent of ice shot forth,
washing over Deathwing with incredible accuracy. However, as soon as the ice touched the fearsome
dragon, ittransformed,
turning into a thousand thousand tiny crablike vermin that sought to tear at the scales and flesh of their
host.
Deathwing hissed, and from the crimson veins acid poured forth. Malygos's creatures died by the
hundreds, until only a few remained.
Expertly using two talons, the black dragon picked one of these off, then swallowed it whole. He smiled
at his counterparts, revealing sharp, tearing teeth. “So that is how it is to be, then. . . .”
With an earth-shattering roar, he leapt at them.
“They will not defeat him!” Korialstrasz muttered as Rhonin and he neared the besieged orc column.
“They cannot!”
“Then why bother?”
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