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Dawn of the Dragon	By : RotSeele Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 3875 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own World of Warcraft. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
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Twenty
Karidormi suddenly pitched forward. Anduin hurried forward and caught Karidormi by her left arm. Wrathion caught her by her right. Between the two of them, they managed to slow her descent enough that they were able to keep her from getting even more hurt than she already was. Somehow, they managed to get her upright enough to get her back to the camp. Shandris and Dashiell looked surprised to see her; Shalya retained a neutral expression, though she helped Anduin and Wrathion settle Karidormi on the ground, and then retrieved something for her to eat. Anduin crouched beside her and held his hands inches from her shoulder. A muted glow appeared against his palm as he called upon the Light to heal Karidormi's wounds.
Dashiell cursed quickly and ferociously in Thalassian. "What the hell happened to you?"
Karidormi looked up at him. "It's not as bad as it looks."
"Of course it's as bad as it looks!" Dashiell raked a hand through his hair. "What the hell were you thinking running off like that?!"
"I had to make sure no one was following us."
"As admirable as that is," Shandris said quietly, "you should've told us. One of us could have gone with you, or at least we wouldn't have had to worry about you ending up dead."
Karidormi smiled tightly. "I'm sorry. You're right. I should've said something."
"Did you find anything?"
The bronze dragon and the commander stared at each other for a moment. Anduin looked at Karidormi's face and knew immediately there was something she wasn't telling them. He glanced at Shandris and saw the moment the night elf commander realized it too - but Shandris only inclined her head and accepted the fact that Karidormi was keeping a secret. Anduin realized then that Karidormi was probably going to tell Shandris later, when no one else was around to hear.
It irked Anduin a little bit that Kari couldn't trust them (him, in particular) enough to tell them what was going on. After all, how could he protect his friends if he didn't know what he was supposed to be protecting them from? He glanced at Shalya and saw the same understanding in her eyes that had been in Shandris' moments before. He frowned as he looked at Karidormi. Was she not telling them because she didn't want them to panic, or was she not telling them because she had no idea herself? The wounds she had had obviously come from something incredibly dangerous, especially if it could hurt a dragon Kari's size. He wanted to know what it was.
Amazingly, Shalya beat him to it. "What attacked you?"
Kari looked like she was going to evade the question. But then she looked at the half-Orc girl and replied, "Something that had no business being alive."
"Is it dead?"
"Yes."
"Will there be others?"
"I... I don't know."
Anduin frowned. "Should we go back then? Maybe ask Honor Hold or Thrallmar for some extra help?"
Karidormi shook her head. "I don't want to involve any more people than are involved already. We should just keep moving forward. It's just..."
"Just what?" Asked Dashiell.
"I fear we're running out of time."
Wrathion chuckled. They all looked at him. He shrugged. "Sorry. It's just strange to hear that phrase coming from a bronze dragon."
"We no longer have the powers the Titans gifted us with. When the Aspects fought that final battle against Deathwing, they sacrificed their powers and everything else they could give." Karidormi looked at the food in her lap. "We were left without answers and no direction. Many of my flight took to the Caverns as a way of staying connected with what was, while other flights looked to the future of what might be."
"And you chose the hardest path." Wrathion said quietly. "You followed a dream when no one else would listen to you, and gave up everything to fight for something you didn't even know was real."
Karidormi looked up at him. "Real or not, the world of Azeroth and all of the people and creatures living on and in the earth are worth fighting for."
"Maybe you should try to become the Earth Warder."
Karidormi laughed quietly. "It doesn't work that way. The Titans gave the Aspects their powers, and for thousands of years, those powers were inherited by the dragons of a particular color. I couldn't bring a flower back to life and a red dragon can't touch time. So it is with the black dragons. Only they have power to commune with the earth."
Anduin looked at Karidormi and withdrew his hand. He thought about what she'd said, that many of her kind clung to the past while only a few looked toward the new future. Anduin thought back to his own father and experiences. It had taken the help of Genn Greymane to help Varian become the man he was meant to be, a man who looked to the future rather than the past. Anduin slowly realized he'd been doing much the same, but in his own way. He remembered having to grow up so fast in order to be a good king that he'd never had much of a childhood. And when Varian had returned, Anduin really wasn't sure how to be a kid. He'd wanted to grow up already, so he could do things that his heroes had done. He looked to the past and saw himself as weak in his father's eyes, someone who needed protecting, and so had somewhat he could to prove to Varian that he wasn't a little kid anymore and could take care of himself.
He looked up at Shalya. She was watching him carefully, almost analyzing him as he analyzed himself. Shalya, he realized, didn't look to the past at all. She accepted her past and strove to bring about a future where she could be happy. She didn't care that her heritage made her different from everyone else, or that she came from two races that could barely get along with the third side of her heritage even on the best of days. She looked toward the new day as another journey. Another day she was alive to protect the people that mattered.
Anduin saw Shalya flush as she realized he was looking back at her. Anduin turned away to hide his smile and stood up. "So we keep going." He said.
Karidormi looked up at him and gave a small smile. "It's only going to get more dangerous from here. If we can't find a suitable candidate, we're going to have to fight."
"The future is worth fighting for." Shalya said quietly. "I believe those were your words."
"And I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting kind of tired of all this bullshit with Garrosh." Dashiell said. "He took a chance and bit it."
Shandris hummed. "Even so, he's still responsible for what he's done, and the aftermath. He won't be forgiven lightly. But this quest isn't about him. This quest is about stopping those who claim to serve him, and saving Go’el’s life. Even if we fail to find a black dragon who could be able to take on the mantle of Earth Warder, we can rally our respective races and fight against these dark shamans and whatever they throw at us. The leaders of the Alliance and the Horde came together to face the threats against Azeroth; now would be no different."
"You're talking about going to war after we've already stopped one." Wrathion said, a quiet snarl in his words. "Everyone just went through hell to get out of one."
"What is peace but the quiet between wars?" Shalya said suddenly. They all looked at her. She shrugged. "It's a matter of being alive. Even if we have peace, it'll eventually be shattered by someone who thinks differently, and is able to get enough power to challenge the current way. Every living creature has to fight. It's in our nature. We fight for food, for mates, for love, for hatred, or simply to watch our enemies die beneath our boot."
"That's a very cynical way of looking at things." Anduin replied.
Shalya fixed him with a sapphire gaze. "Perhaps. But I will fight to protect my people, especially my grandfather. I will fight for you, Anduin, because you are my friend. And, even though I don't know the world you call Azeroth, I will fight to protect it."
Anduin shivered as he felt warmth blossom in his chest. He mentally kicked himself. It wasn't like she was declaring anything; she was just saying they were friends, and she'd act accordingly. Wrathion made a grunting noise. "We aren't getting anywhere just standing here talking about it. Now that Kari's back, we should get some rest and continue on in the morning." The Black Prince turned on his heel and went to his pack, where he settled down to try and sleep.
Shandris eyed him for a moment, then nodded. "Wrathion's right. It's not worth wondering about what might be. What we can do is do what we've been doing - trying to stop the what-if's from coming true."
The others gave their murmured assent, then moved to their respective spots to try and get some rest. Anduin noticed that only Shalya remained awake for a time, watching the darkness around them. He wanted to go over to her, to talk a little more and clarify what she'd meant when she spoke, but he watched her turn her back to him, and then saw her settle her arms on her drawn-up knees, her chin on her arms. He saw her heave a long sigh, and then she was still.
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Dawn of the Dragon