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Lifelong Promise	By : RotSeele Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 5625 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own World of Warcraft. I do not make any money from this story. Written for Parzival12 as a request.

Chapter List
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Three
How long he hunted her, Korial didn’t know. Hours blended to days blended to weeks, to months. Perhaps even years. Time was inconsequential to the dragon hunter as he sought his prize, chasing every sign and rumor of her. The Dragonqueen proved elusive, and Korial wasn’t expecting any less, considering her abilities. He was certain she was watching him at times, but he never saw her, never saw hide nor hair of her, and he often had sleepless nights looking for her. When he did sleep, he dreamed.
He dreamed of being a dragon, of being that mighty red male and soaring through the skies with his brothers and sisters and children. He dreamed of a system of caves in unreachable mountains, curling up beside a red female who outweighed him considerably. He dreamed of other things, too, of mating flights and watching eggs hatch. He dreamed of a floating city, of pretending to be human in order to keep an eye on the lesser races, to watch them flourish and grow. He dreamed of a human with flame-red hair, his best friend, his apprentice of sorts, who knew his secret only because they had gone on many adventures together, the most important of which was a mission to free Alexstrasza from the clutches of orcs.
Those dreams tugged at feelings unfamiliar to Korial. When he was awake and hunting, he often thought about those dreams and those feelings, trying to figure out where he ended and the other began. Alexstrasza had called him Korialstrasz. If he remembered his tales right, each dragonflight had special endings to their names, signifying their allegiance - as if the color of their scales wasn’t enough - to their flight. For the red dragons, male names ended in ‘strasz’ while female names ended in ‘strasza’. For Alexstrasza to give his name the male ending...
He shook his head and put the thought from his mind. It was all coincidence anyway.
Wasn’t it?
Korial’s path took him from the Eastern Kingdoms to Northrend. He traveled through the Borean Tundra, traveling east toward the Dragonblight. It was the last place he knew where to look for her, and he swore that if he didn’t find her here, then he would finally give up. News had come in that the dragon hunts were ending anyway, that it was becoming harder and harder to find them. Either they were leaving the more populated places for the hidden places in mountain vales, or they were heading to their ancient stomping grounds, or they were - as Korial was beginning to believe they were - taking on smaller forms and insinuating themselves among the mortal races. Being a dragon hunter with no dragons to hunt was worse than useless. Of course, Korial didn’t know what he would do with himself if he lost his line of work, but he was confident he’d find something.
His first stop was Wyrmrest Accord. The dilapidated temple was the most prominent feature in most of his dreams, including the dream where he killed himself and took the lives of thousands of unborn monstrosities. It was mostly ruins now, a testament to a battle that had happened long before he had been born. The top tier of the tower was missing, open to the elements. The rest of it had been weathered by the long years. Nothing and no one was there now, and even as Korial searched for clues, he couldn’t find anything but worthless relics and a decent shelter from the snowstorm that suddenly roared in, blocking him from leaving for the next day and a half.
When the snowstorm cleared, Korial gathered his things and his horse and began the long ride toward the last place his dreams had pointed him to - the Red Dragonshrine. Long abandoned now, it still seemed to be the safest haven for any dragon who came to Northrend, mostly because no one ever traveled here much anymore. If anyone did come to Northrend, it was merely to head to Dalaran, and then use a portal there to head back to whatever city they had allegiance to.
He rode down into the bowl-shaped depression and pulled his horse to a stop at the bottom. The Red Dragonshrine was filled with green, a stark contrast to the desolation outside. It was warmer, and more welcoming. It was incredibly still, the only signs of life being the trees and grasses gently waving with an invisible wind.
Carefully, Korial dismounted and left his horse where it stood. He didn’t care if the horse wasn’t there when - if - he got back, probably because he knew he wouldn’t survive the trip home. He wasn’t so foolish as to believe that he would kill the Dragonqueen and emerge unscathed. Korial unsheathed his sword as he passed beneath the first of the trees, listening for any sound that was out of the ordinary. He craned his head back toward the sky, watching the grey-blue above for any signs of movement there. Everything remained still, so he continued on, deeper into the Red Dragonshrine.
Korial stopped in the very center of the shrine, grip tightening around the hilt of his blade. Standing there, as if waiting for him, was the Dragonqueen Alexstrasza. She was in her human form, in the same outfit she had been wearing when he first saw her. Her back was to him, but Korial knew she had heard him coming. He glanced left and right - she was alone. Before he took a step forward, Alexstrasza turned to face him. Korial froze, as if rooted to the earth just from her stare alone.
Her golden eyes were tired. Sad. She studied his face with the same expression Korial had seen widows wear when they visited the graves of their husbands. She said nothing to him, just watched him, not even retreating when he took his first leaden step forward, then another, and another, until only a sword-blade’s distance separated them.
“I won’t kill a woman.” Korial finally growled out, his voice filled with hate.
“Is there much of a difference between the woman and the dragon?”
The question stopped him cold. A memory, a dream, bubbled up, of a red dragon who assumed the form of a man, who watched over the races others of his kind considered ‘lesser’, and who held held those ‘lesser’ races in higher regard than his own.
Alexstrasza’s lips twitched. “You used to ask similar questions like that, though the meaning behind them was very much different.”
Korial frowned. His blade came up, but she still didn’t move. She watched him, sadness still in her eyes, tinged with that deep-seated love Alexstrasza always seemed to have for everyone and everything. “Change.”
“No.”
He took another menacing step forward, but she didn’t retreat. She met his challenge - as she had always done, said that tiny little voice from another lifetime - and looked him in the eye. Now there was only a finger-length of space between them. Korial could feel Alexstrasza’s body heat; he was sure she could feel his. His sword was still raised threateningly, but for some reason he couldn’t get his arm to move. He realized - with bitterness? with relief? - that he couldn’t kill the woman. He couldn’t strike down Alexstrasza as she was right now. He also realized that she wasn’t going to change shape, because then whatever was happening between them would stop, and he would kill her.
She raised her hand. Korial watched her, knowing somewhere deep inside him that he wouldn’t be able to stop her if she chose to tear his throat out. Instead, she placed her hand against his cheek and let her warmth sink into his skin. Korial’s arm twitched, then slowly, as if it couldn’t bear its burden any longer, it slowly started to sink to the ground. His blade touched earth, and he found himself lost in the Dragonqueen’s golden eyes.
“I know,” Alexstrasza whispered, “how much pain you’re in, Korial. Just as you know killing me, and killing every last dragon in Azeroth, will never ease that pain.” Her thumb ghosted across his cheek and despite himself, Korial found his eyes closing for a brief moment, a part of him relishing the touch. When he opened his eyes again, Alexstrasza’s face was mere inches away from his, allowing him to look into her depthless golden eyes. “I wish I could have saved you. I wish I could have healed you. I wish I could have-“
She couldn’t say anything more.
Korial had sealed his mouth over hers, kissing her hard.
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Lifelong Promise