Dawn of the Aspects: Part II (5 page)

“No. Not yet. Thank you.” Kalec had become nearly as distrustful of the other magi as they clearly had been of him after his unfortunate move into Dalaran. He could not imagine that things would go well with them around him in the Nexus, and that was not even taking the artifact in account.

Jaina looked doubtful about his decision but finally nodded. “All right. But the offer is open. I will see to it that any who enter the Nexus will do as they're told. You know thaaaaattttt . . .”

The archmage and her surroundings rippled, grew distorted. Jaina's body twisted, and her face stretched forward.

“Jaina?” Kalec feared some force had attacked her while they had spoken.

“. . . wrrrrrrong, Kkkkkaleeeccc,” she answered, even as her body grew scaled and her sanctum collapsed, becoming a rocky overhang. Her robes became wings, and before Kalec's eyes, Jaina Proudmoore transformed into a dragon.

No
, Kalec thought.
Not a dragon . . . a proto-dragon.

“Kaaaallllleeeccc?” rumbled the proto-dragon.

He had no chance to answer her, no chance even to dismiss the link between them. Kalec wished it closed, then lost track of both it and the altered Jaina as he felt his body shifting into a more reptilian form. Thoughts other than his own filled his head, dominated his mind.

Kalec tried to roar, but his mouth was no longer his. He felt himself receding into the background . . . and the mind of Malygos taking the forefront.

The Nexus had become a chilly seashore that reminded Kalec of the area where Malygos had once fished. Malygos was not alone. Alexstrasza stood roughly the same distance from Kalec's host as Jaina had seemed from Kalec.

“I will do that,” the fire-orange female said to Malygos as she rose into the sky. Alexstrasza darted off to the east, leaving Malygos on his own.

What they had discussed, Kalec neither knew nor cared about. He strained uselessly to return to the Nexus, even concentrating on Jaina in the hopes that the link that had helped him at least twice would do so again. Yet, as he feared, nothing changed.

Malygos took off, heading out to sea. While it was evident that the proto-dragon hunted a meal, he also appeared to be watching or waiting for something that his vague thoughts did not reveal to Kalec. That further frustrated the dragon, who had assumed that if he had been thrust back into the visions, it had been for
some
purpose.

Kalec's host scooped up one of a pod of aquatic air breathers a half-mile offshore, devouring the creature in two gulps. While not as delicate about his meals as Alexstrasza, Malygos did try to kill his prey quickly and relatively painlessly. Still, Kalec had no taste for the hunt right now and hoped that Malygos would either quickly fill his belly or remember something more important.

The meal did come to an end, but not as a result of one of those choices. Rather, Malygos suddenly raised his bloody jaws from his second kill and peered up into the overcast sky. Kalec instantly thought of the undead, but instead, Malygos's sharp gaze fixed on a pair of proto-dragons skirting the bottom of the cloud cover.

Kalec's host leapt into the air and raced toward the pair. As he neared, it became evident that there were more than two. Kalec counted four, but Malygos counted five, with the fifth being none other than Ysera.

And with her flew
Coros
.

Hissing, Malygos came up behind the pair. Kalec understood his caution, for other than Ysera, the rest of the party were all proto-dragons Kalec knew to be hostile to his host.

Coros noticed him first. Malygos's rival sneered, then hissed warning.

Ysera looked over her shoulder. Upon recognizing Malygos, Alexstrasza's sister grew visibly frustrated. “I will do this!” she insisted. “We are right!”

Thoughts spilled through Malygos's mind and into Kalec's. Ysera continuing to search among the dead—and the defeated undead—for her clutch brother despite knowing that it was unlikely she would find him. Alexstrasza's sister growing more vehement in her distaste for all the violence. The yellowish proto-dragon preaching her beliefs to others and finding a few who saw as she did.

And one of those appeared to be Coros, who had seemed so fanatically loyal to Talonixa not all that long ago. Now Coros also preached peace, preached finding a way to live
under
the rule of Galakrond. His notions did not exactly match those of Ysera, but they were close enough for both suddenly to work to convince others.

Malygos saw only naivety in Ysera's dreams and did not trust the mercurial nature of Coros's. Kalec now understood what his host and Alexstrasza had been discussing; Ysera's sister had been searching for her for three days, hoping to make her see the error of her ways before she did something foolish. To Malygos, Alexstrasza appeared too late to prevent the last. He felt that any plan hatched even in part by Coros was certain to be filled with danger and treachery.

Once Malygos might have simply let things happen as they would, but more and more, Kalec's host saw the intricacies involved in even the simplest decisions. The repercussions for the proto-dragon race as a whole were many, not to mention the fact that Malygos now felt a loyalty to the sisters that in some ways surpassed even that to his own family. He had fought side by side with both of them and knew their dedication and trustworthiness.

He also knew that Coros lacked either of those qualities.

“Sister seeks you,” Malygos informed Ysera, indicating the direction Alexstrasza had flown only a short while ago. “That way.”

“Saw her,” Ysera responded with a snort. “Let her fly on.”

This startled Malygos, who knew how close the pair was despite the constant bickering. “Should listen to her! Galakrond will not—”

“Galakrond
will
.”

Her short but incredible interjection caught both Malygos and Kalec by surprise. Malygos hissed in confusion. Coros grinned but did not interrupt.

“There will be peace,” Ysera announced with some pride. “Galakrond will talk peace.”

“You do not know—”

She raised her head higher, taking a dominant position over Malygos. “
We
spoke with Galakrond. He
will
talk peace.”

The madness that had affected Kalec in the present now looked as if it was taking hold of him in the vision. He could not believe that he had heard correctly, and judging by Malygos's racing emotions, Kalec's host could not believe it, either. “Galakrond . . .
talked
with Galakrond?”

Coros finally joined in, his triumph clear in both his tone and his expression. “Peace we will have . . . if all will
listen
.”

Before Malygos could retort, Ysera said, “All
must
listen . . . and we must go.”

“Go where?” asked Kalec's host as both his mind and Kalec's raced.

“Find Talonixa,” she answered, as if that should have been clear to anyone. “Tell her. Tell
all
.”

That said, she veered off. Coros, the other three proto-dragons in tow, followed.

Malygos stared, wanting to believe Alexstrasza's sister but also aware of just what a monster Galakrond had become. Still, if Ysera spoke the truth—

“No.” Malygos shook off that possibility, and Kalec once again admired the analytic abilities of the future Aspect even as a proto-dragon. However, his admiration faded as both he and Malygos thought of what would happen if Ysera
did
convince the others.

The proto-dragon quickly turned. He had to find Alexstrasza and somehow help her make Ysera see sense. Even though Kalec's host—and Kalec, too—understood the odds of Ysera convincing Talonixa and the rest of the merits of her plan, the two could not help but feel that somehow matters would end in new disaster and that more, many more, would die as a result.

FIVE

FATEFUL DECISIONS

Malygos grew more desperate as his search for Alexstrasza stretched to hours. At that very moment, Ysera—with Coros's aid—might already be convincing Talonixa of the merit of her intentions and Galakrond's willingness to agree to everything. Malygos could foresee only catastrophe if that happened.

His thinking was another example of the leap Kalec had witnessed among several of the proto-dragons. Malygos saw nothing new or odd about his considerations for the future, whereas among some current proto-dragons, the here and now was all that existed.

The lengthy search had had its own effect on Kalec. Able to feel the wind as Malygos flew, Kalec had calmed down somewhat. When he was in the visions, he had no choice concerning the path upon which he had been set and therefore tried to become as detached as he could.

Yet Kalec could not help but consider the choices left to his host. Unaware of how this entire struggle had ultimately turned out, Kalec was not even certain that Malygos was right in seeking Alexstrasza's aid in stopping Ysera. Although Kalec had believed as Malygos had when first hearing about the suggestion of peace with the marauding behemoth, he also knew that, in his time, Galakrond's skeleton lay near the heart of the Dragonblight and that the gigantic proto-dragon was considered the Father of Dragons. How that had come to be, Kalec could not fathom. Had Galakrond achieved salvation after all, something that had escaped the future Neltharion and even, regrettably, Malygos himself?

He forgot all about such questions as Malygos spotted a red speck perched atop a tall hill. While to Kalec it might have appeared to be any member of Alexstrasza's family, his host was absolutely certain that he had found Ysera's sister, and within a few strong beats of the male's wings, that proved to be the case.

She noted Malygos's arrival with a hopeful gaze. Kalec felt his host's guilt at coming with something other than good news.

“Found Ysera,” he started. “With Coros.”

Alexstrasza eyed him in disbelief. “Coros?”

Malygos quickly explained what had happened, including Ysera's current thinking.

The fire-orange female hissed in growing frustration as she listened. “Must go to her!” Alexstrasza snarled as soon as Malygos had finished. “This must not be!”

The male proto-dragon blocked her path. “Wait! Ysera will not listen!”

She glared at him but finally nodded. “No. Ysera will not listen. She will die.”

“Will
not
die,” Malygos insisted. “Ysera will not die.”

Alexstrasza shook her head. Yet rather than shove past her companion, the female proto-dragon hesitated. She
wanted
to believe Malygos.

“Coros not good,” he informed Alexstrasza. “Coros always lies.” It was a simplistic declaration but, from what Kalec could glean from Malygos's memories, close to the truth. “We watch Coros. Find truth. Show Ysera.”

While Kalec's host did want to help the sisters, the icy-blue male also looked forward to revealing his rival as he knew him to be. Coros was one proto-dragon Malygos would not have minded being devoured by Galakrond, provided Coros could be prevented from rising from the dead afterward.

Cocking her head, Alexstrasza considered his words. It did not take her long to nod eagerly. “Yes. Prove Coros false! Ysera will see truth!”

Kalec was not so certain about the merit of Malygos's suggestion, but he distrusted Coros as much as Malygos did. Kalec suspected that Coros thought he could take advantage of everyone, even Galakrond, while raising his status among the other proto-dragons in the process. It was a foolish, dangerous notion—

A familiar roar thundered across the heavens.

Immediately, Malygos and Alexstrasza dived from their perches into more shadowed regions below. Neither proto-dragon cared about dignity. Malygos found an overhang that had enough room for one and left it to Alexstrasza, who reluctantly accepted his sacrifice. The male moved on until he came to a depression in a hillside. It was not large enough to fit him, but he nonetheless planted himself against it, then held his breath.

And barely had he done so than a darker, vaster shadow engulfed everything. A hulking form covered the sky: Galakrond, on his endless hunt.

Despite his much too near proximity to the insatiable leviathan, Malygos forgot his danger as details of Galakrond's underside swept past. The smaller proto-dragon even slipped out of the depression as he stared at the growths more and more dominating Galakrond.

Growths that had an odd resemblance to unfinished
body parts
.

Kalec watched with equal horror as Malygos glimpsed one rudimentary limb after another dangling from random locations. There were forelimbs and hind, with partial paws. Vestigial wings flapped futilely in the wind caused by Galakrond's swift flight. What might have been a partially formed head—a
head!
—thrust out of a region near the behemoth's hip.

There were other shapes that neither Kalec nor his host could identify but that both assumed were just as unnerving. Malygos sat where he was, entirely oblivious to the fact that all Galakrond had to do was glance back to see him.

Fortunately, the gigantic proto-dragon continued on, not only racing beyond view mere seconds later but also heading in a direction that would not set the two smaller ones on the same path. Malygos exhaled as Galakrond vanished; then he quickly joined Alexstrasza.

“Must go now!” the fire-orange female urged. “Now, before Galakrond comes again.”

“Now,” agreed Malygos, following as Alexstrasza took off. However, unsaid by the male proto-dragon—but sensed by the ever-present Kalec—was the thought that even if the pair flew faster than Galakrond, it might already be too late to avert catastrophe.

•   •   •

The two proto-dragons headed toward the region where Talonixa had previously called the gathering. It had not yet been discovered by Galakrond, but Talonixa had already used the growing risk of that happening to stir the other proto-dragons toward mounting their attack. Her sense of urgency, fueled by her desire for vengeance, clearly still prevailed.

“More of us here!” she roared. “So many more! Galakrond cannot fight all! Cannot!”

Proto-dragons everywhere hissed and roared their agreement. Kalec judged that Talonixa had been speaking for some time, which gave credit not only to her relative eloquence but also to her continued domination of the others.

“There!” rumbled Alexstrasza. “She is there!”

Following her gaze, Kalec's host beheld the smaller sister not far from Talonixa's rocky perch. Coros stood next to her, his three comrades a little farther back and looking as if they did not wish to be anywhere near the pair. Both Malygos and Kalec found that odd, especially where the trio's leader was concerned. Why avoid Coros?

Talonixa hissed in pleasure at the gathering's response. Coros chose that moment to ease up to her. He leaned close and whispered in her ear. Her black eyes narrowed as they fell upon Ysera. Coros immediately retreated, his expression veiled.

The dominant female unleashed a mighty roar that made Kalec's host cringe as he landed, for surely every living creature within half a day's flight could hear it. Still, out of respect to Alexstrasza, Malygos did not depart for safer climes. Instead, he alighted with her at a place where they could view the tableau unfolding.

“This runt speaks,” Talonixa declared, with one wing indicating Ysera. To Alexstrasza's sibling, she curtly added, “Speak!”

Ysera looked to Coros, who merely nodded.

Alexstrasza growled low at the male's action. “He leaves Ysera alone!”

“That is Coros.” Malygos had already expected his rival's support of Ysera to be weak. Coros would do what he could to deflect focus away from him unless it served to raise his status. If Ysera managed to sway the majority, Coros would suddenly be there beside her.

The yellowish female pulled herself up to her full height. While she was not a very impressive proto-dragon when compared with Talonixa, there was something in Ysera's manner that Malygos—and Kalec—found admirable. Weak though she was, Alexstrasza's sibling had an inherent determination that made her seem larger, more dominating, than she physically was.

“We are many!” she began, her first statement receiving a chorus of approving hisses. “We are many . . . but Galakrond is Galakrond!”

The approving hisses faded as the gathered proto-dragons tried to digest what she meant by the last.

“Galakrond is strong! Galakrond is powerful!”

“We are many!” one of the listening crowd roared back. Others hissed in agreement.

“We are many,” Ysera repeated with a nod. “And many will die against Galakrond.”

Several of the listeners glanced with unease at one another. Seeing this, Talonixa unleashed an angry hiss.

Ignoring her, Ysera pressed her case. “Many can be saved! Peace will save them!” She stepped toward the thickest part of the gathering. “Must talk with Galakrond! Galakrond talked before! Remember when Galakrond was with us! Hunted with us! We talk peace, Galakrond will listen—”

A thundering laugh cut her off. Talonixa looked around at the other proto-dragons as she mocked Ysera's earnest words. “Galakrond will listen? Ha! Galakrond hunted with us? Galakrond now
hunts
us, yes? Listen? Never!”

Ysera tried to interject, but she was drowned out not only by more laughter from Talonixa but also by the laughter of those joining in with the larger female.

Alexstrasza growled. She started forward, clearly wanting to stand by her sister.

Malygos cut in front of her. “No. Ysera will not like that.”

The fire-orange female almost snapped at him, but then she hesitated. She eyed Ysera, wanting to comfort her, then finally nodded. “Yes . . . would not like that. Never liked that.”

Malygos and Alexstrasza—and Kalec, who initially had expected Alexstrasza to fly to Ysera, something he would have done in her place—could only watch as Ysera's effort fell apart. Ysera looked crestfallen and confused. She glanced around as if seeking someone who was clearly not there.

“Coros,” Kalec's host rumbled. “Where is Coros?”

Indeed, the other male had vanished at some point, along with his three comrades. Malygos searched the gathering and caught a glimpse of what he thought was one of the trio disappearing over a distant rock.

Before he could decide what to do, Talonixa seized control of the gathering again. With a tremendous roar, she silenced those who had been mocking Ysera with her.

“No peace!” she called. “Never! Galakrond hunts us. We now hunt Galakrond, yes?”

Roars of approval reverberated through the area. Ysera, her head low in a submissive posture, crept back. Alexstrasza, looking more distraught than ever, pleaded with her eyes to Malygos.

Kalec's host nodded. “Yes . . . now good.”

As she rushed to console Ysera, Malygos quickly sought out Neltharion. Finding neither him nor even the brown male, Nozdormu, Malygos climbed down from his perch in search of them, just as Talonixa took further advantage of Ysera's failed attempt for peace.

“We are many! We will win—”

“Attack now!” urged one proto-dragon.

“No! I decide! Others come! Three suns pass, and we attack! Galakrond falls!”

Malygos paused at hearing this decision, the first time Talonixa had proclaimed it. He hissed, not liking that things were abruptly moving so fast.

As the other proto-dragons drank in this grand proclamation and began to cheer, Malygos caught sight of Coros himself. The other male's head had risen above an outcropping farther to the north. Coros immediately sank out of view, but without seeing that Malygos had spotted him.

More distrusting of his rival than ever, even in this dire time, Malygos scurried faster among the rocks. He did not want to be seen in turn. Coros intended something sinister, and both Malygos and Kalec were in agreement that he needed to be followed.

Crawling along the landscape like one of the tiny lizards that made for the good occasional snack, Malygos circled around the area, seeking some hint of Coros or his companions. In the background, Talonixa continued to proclaim to the other proto-dragons. While Malygos could not understand her words anymore, her tone preached triumph over Galakrond.

Pushing aside all thought of what would happen three suns from now, Malygos increased his pace as best as he could in such an awkward position. He yearned to fly but dared not until he knew where those he hunted were. Kalec, with no body of his own, more than understood.

Then, as if something sensed their desire, a single shape rose in the distance. It was followed by a second, then a third and a fourth. Coros and his followers flew low and quickly vanished over the northern horizon.

Malygos kept equally low as he pursued. He still had no proof that Coros was up to something, but the simple fact that it was Coros was all that mattered. Kalec mostly knew of the other proto-dragon from Malygos's memories, but what little he had seen of Coros matched well with what his host thought of his rival.

Malygos wished that he could have located at least Neltharion, but there was no time. Coros's speed indicated urgency. Malygos
needed
to know where he went, and because of that, so did Kalec.

More than once, Malygos lost sight of the four, but persistence enabled him to regain the trail each time, until the point where they descended over a series of ridges.

Malygos hissed angrily as he smelled the air in hopes of locating the four. He knew Coros's stench well enough, yet he could not locate it.

But another, unsettling scent wafted past his nostrils. It was fainter yet so distinct that the proto-dragon could not help but focus on it. There was something about it that spoke of a strength different from that of one of his kind.