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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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Forty
She was floating.
She couldn't tell if she was right-side up or upside down, but she could tell she was weightless and moving in some general direction, like she was on a lazy river being gently guided down by the current.
Athena let her eyes open slowly and took her time in registering where she was. It certainly wasn't the cave, that much she recognized immediately. She also knew she was alone. She became aware of the fact that she couldn't feel her body, and managed to angle her head enough to look at herself. She was in her draconic form, half curled like a cat napping on its back in the sun. She wiggled her talons, wiggled her wings, wiggled her tail. All in working condition. Which was good, if she really wanted to swim like a bedraggled cat. Trying to right herself in a way that felt like she would be on her feet instead of on her head, Athena began to will her shape to change, to become her human form. She was met with resistance, which made her angry enough to hiss, and then she felt the changes taking place. Soon, instead of looking at talons and scales, she was looking at manicured nails and pale skin. She blew out a sigh and looked around her dark prison. How was she supposed to do anything if she couldn't see? She cursed again, loudly, then began to turn in a slow circle, trying to see if she could sense anything since her eyes weren't working.
There.
Athena started moving forward, floating, swimming, flying, whatever it was she was doing to propel herself forward. She didn't really know what direction to move in, but at the same time, she didn't really care. As long as she moved forward, the feeling she was going the right way kept getting stronger. It wasn't until she was maybe halfway through her journey that she realized she couldn't actually feel her body. It was like her soul had been sucked out and set free, without the grounding chains that was her flesh. She sighed. "You better be here, Go’el, or we're going to have issues." Her voice sounded hollow even to her own ears.
There was a fluttering response to it, though, like when the wind disturbed dandelion seeds. She kept moving forward, and then her boots encountered what felt like solid ground. She reached forward with her arms and watched as a dark, mist-like veil was pierced by her nails. And then she was through, standing in a verdant but lonely field, where another figure stood, up on a rising hill.
As she approached, she found that the figure closely resembled that of the Orc Go’el that had been lying comatose on the floor of the cave. His face was still fleshy and green, but his legs, arms, and most of his torso had been consumed by stone. Athena reached out and tapped the stone with her index finger's nail, and heard a hollow sound. Shaking her head, she stepped back and studied Go’el’s face, noting how it was twisted in pain. His eyes were squeezed shut and his lips twisted in a snarl, but he'd made no move to acknowledge her there in front of him.
So Athena reached out and lightly smacked his face.
Go’el jerked awake. "What..." He blinked as he stared at her. "Who are you?"
"My name is Athena. I can't believe I'm saying this but... I'm here to save you."
Go’el chuckled. "Save me? Why? I've failed to protect Azeroth from the corruption the Dark Shaman have wrought upon it, and I've failed to protect my people and my family. Even now I fight, but I can't win."
"Oh, get over yourself!" Athena snapped. Go’el stared at her, wide-eyed. "So fucking what if you can't fix the mistakes other people made? That's not your problem. They're the ones who have to live with it. Why should you be going around fixing other morons' problems?"
Go’el’s jaw dropped; he stared at her incredulously. "I've taken up the mantle of Earth Warder, and as Malfurion is Arch-Druid to the Druids, so am I to the shaman."
"Bullshit."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Athena tapped her nail against Go’el’s chest. "All I'm hearing is some lame, whiny excuse. It sounds like 'oh woe is me, the world's falling apart and I'm the only one who can fix it!' You're delusional."
Go’el laughed, which hadn't been exactly the reaction Athena had been expecting. "I'm not going to argue with a figment of my imagination."
Now Athena laughed. "You think me a figment of your imagination? That's cute. I've been called lots of things, but never imaginary." She offered her hand, palm up, and when Go’el looked at her open hand, she struck him across the face. He yelped. "Did that feel imaginary to you?"
Go’el stared. "Who are you?"
"Besides a bitch and a pain in the ass? I'm the rightful owner of those fancy powers you have and the title of Earth Warder."
Now those blue eyes widened. "You're a..."
Athena smiled. "Deathwing's eldest living daughter. And I'm here at the request of your wife and some bronze meddler called Karidormi. Now, are we going to keep repeating ourselves, or are we going to stop having a pity party and go kick some Dark Shaman ass?"
"I'm not having a pity party." Go’el growled.
"Oh-ho, yes you are." Athena shifted and lifted her hand toward Go’el’s face. He flinched again. "Here you are, trapped in some stone carapace, crying about how cruel life is to you instead of trying to escape."
"I'm not-"
Athena slashed Go’el a glare that shut him up immediately. Eyeing him, Athena said, "I don't care much for people who say they can't. I don't care what the 'can't' is about. So what if people decided to be idiots and screw up something good? That's their choice. The only thing you can do is try to live your own life better. Do you think the elements are mad with you because a bunch of shamans decided to be idiots, throw in their lot with a psychotic asshole with daddy issues, and become jerks that most of the world decides needs a black eye." She sighed. "I know I'm older than you, but this big sister to little brother talk gets annoying."
"You have siblings?"
"Three that are directly related. And I suppose I just acquired another. I've lived my life being hunted. I know what it's like to lead and feel like you're never getting anywhere, never accomplishing anything or making a difference. The thing is, though, you are making a difference, and you're never alone. There are people all over who are willing, able, and ready to help. All you have to do is ask."
"I can't subject anyone else to the mantle of Earth Warder. It's too dangerous."
"Well, too bad, because I'm usurping you in that area." Athena reached out and grasped a piece of stone encasing Go’el’s left bicep. "What everyone seems to forget is that the titles of Lifebinder, Earth Warder, Timeless One, She of the Dreaming, and Guardian of Magic were all given by the Titans. All those fancy powers, too, were given to the Aspects by the Titans. They became so reliant on those powers that they forgot what it was they could do." The stone crunched under her fingers as she closed her hand into a fist. "They forgot that they had people they could rely in when their own strength wasn't enough. They forgot they had their own strengths, strengths that complimented the strengths of the other Aspects. And now those Titan-given powers are gone, and no dragon knows what to do with him or herself now. Everything they were, everything they were ever going to be, is gone now. So what? What's wrong with discovering what you, only you, can do? What your own powers are?" She pulled her hand back and let the stone dribble to the ground in flakes. "You're the Earth Warder. So am I. What you can't handle, I will. I'll discover what I can do, not just on my own, but with you, and my brothers and my sister. I'll help you heal the world; you can help me rebuild my race. And we can both find that Dark Shaman son of a bitch and rip his arms and legs off."
Go’el blinked. "Are you speaking metaphorically about ripping off his arms and legs?"
"I was actually thinking of stringing him up by his big toes and skinning him alive. Then breaking every bone in his body from ankles to neck - don't look at me like that. It's easy. I've done it before - and then ripping him apart piece by piece." Athena looked Go’el in the eye. "But you need to stop pitying yourself for what you couldn't change, and pride yourself on what you can change."
Go’el looked down at the stone encasing his body. Athena watched the muscles in his arms bulge as he fought the weight of his prison. He stopped a moment later, sucking in a deep breath. "It's difficult, being the only one with powers no one else can shoulder."
"That's why I'm here. I don't understand the powers either. I didn't grow up with all the backstabbing and intrigue my flight was so proud of. I just fought to survive." Athena took a step back from Go’el. "But that's neither here nor there. Out there, our friends and family are fighting to buy us time and to save the world from people who want to destroy it just because they like following some madman rather than go with the rest of the sheep."
Go’el narrowed his eyes and strained his muscles again. "They aren't sheep."
"So what would you call them then? Either way, things got broke and now those who can are trying to bandage the wound the best way they know how. They need you."
He strained more and rock began to splinter. "I've failed them. I allowed the corruption to take me. I allowed the Dark Shaman to roam free."
"Not this again." Athena rolled her eyes and poked Go’el in the chest hard enough to draw a drop of dark blood. She caught it on the edge of her nail and slowly drew her hand back. The blood stretched like a viscous fluid, and Go’el sucked in a harsh breath, his face screwing up in pain. "You see this? This is a poison. This poison is filling your soul, making you more susceptible to grief, guilt, and the outside influences of others. The longer you have the poison in you, the weaker you become until you start believing everything is your fault and there's nothing you can do except to destroy everything and start over."
"Like Deathwing."
"Exactly. Although, I'm pretty sure he had more help than you did. You've been fighting it from day one, because in your heart, you know the truth." Athena tightened her fist around the viscous rope still emerging from Go’el’s chest and began to pull, like she was trying to coil a rope. Go’el grimaced in pain the entire time. "You have to continue fighting. I can only do so much."
"I don't know how to win this battle." Go’el admitted. "Ever since Garrosh's corrupted elements attacked me beneath Orgrimmar, I haven't been able to talk to them, to ask for their aid in helping me combat this malady."
Athena smiled. "So free your hand, take mine, and I'll help you."
"You don't have the powers of the Earth Warder."
"Not until you share them, which means you need to free your hand and take mine, doesn't it?" Athena switched the viscous rope to her left hand and held out her right toward Go’el, offering her hand to him. "I can't help you anymore. You're the one who has to decide what line you're going to live up to. Are you going to be Go’el, the shaman who let himself fall into depravity because he made one little mistake, or are you going to be Go’el, the Earth Warder?"
His eyes closed. His muscles strained. More black, viscous fluid pushed out of the wound Athena had opened in his chest, falling in long, ropy strands. His arms strained in their stone prisons. Athena stayed silent, pulling on the strand of viscous fluid she'd originally pulled from the wound, pulling until she was finally met with resistance. She bared her teeth then in a snarl.
"Make your choice!" She shouted. "Who are you going to be?"
Go’el’s eyes opened, burning bright blue. Athena watched the earth encasing his arms shudder, flaking off until his hand finally came free. He reached out and grasped her wrist in a grip that hurt, and Athena gripped him back, feeling the strength of the world flowing through him. Flowing into her. She felt more powerful than ever, felt the call of the wild earth, the primal strength of stone and fire, felt the soothing breeze and the calming waters, felt everything that ever was or would be about the world called Azeroth. Through Go’el, Athena caught glimpses of earthquakes, forest fires, vicious squalls, and raging seas. She caught glimpses of verdant fields, snow-capped mountains, the cycle of living, dying, and rebirth.
"I am..." Gasped out Go’el as he freed his other arm, "I am Go'el, son of Durotan and Draka. I am the Earth Warder! And none shall ever make me a prisoner again! None shall ever make me question myself, pity myself, ever again! I refuse to be tamed!" He roared.
Athena roared as well, her smaller form shed now for her dragon body. Her wings flared and in their shadows struck bolts of lightning. Where her tail thrashed, earthquakes shook the ground. Where her talons gouged the earth, rivers sprung up and gushed free. She roared, "I am the Earth Warder's shield, his shadow and sheath! To attack him is to attack Azeroth itself, and I as Earth Warder shall be the instrument of its fury!" She grasped the black viscous fluid in her great talons and pulled.
Go’el’s chest exploded.
Go’el stumbled backward and nearly collapsed. He stared up at Athena's draconic visage, overtaken both by fear and by amazement. This was what Neltharion should have been - the embodiment of not just the earth's fury, but the embodiment of the earth's nurturing gentleness as well. Athena stared down at Go’el, her crimson eyes glittering like rubies. Then her gaze traveled downward to his chest. Go’el looked down. There was a large open wound where the last of the poison had been excised. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't all that pretty to look at either. Go’el lifted a hand and called to the water element.
The response he got was more than what he'd hoped for. He gasped as the cold healing waters surged into the wound, growing new muscle and skin in a rapid pace. It was over in a matter of minutes, and as the water element left Go’el, he heard it sigh, Welcome back, son of Durotan. We've much missed you.
Athena cocked her head at Go’el’s dumbfounded expression. "How long are you going to lie there like you got kicked in the head by an ox?"
He looked up at her. "Did you...?" He couldn't put into words the things he wanted to ask.
"I didn't do anything. It was all you. I just pulled." Athena drew back her lips in a smile, showing teeth larger than Go’el. "The power is always there, waiting at the edge of consciousness for those with the courage to use it. It's not Titan power, but the power of Azeroth, and of you."
Go’el eyed Athena from nose to tail. "I suppose having someone like you as backup Earth Warder won't be such a bad thing."
"I can go where you can't, and can do things which you can't. By the same token," she gestured to the lump of viscous fluid that had come from Go’el "you can do what I can't and go where I can't go. We balance each other. The power is split between dragon and man, if you'll forgive the term."
Go’el nodded. He understood perfectly. His body had been able to hold the Earth Warder's power during the battle with Deathwing because he'd had the help of the remaining four Aspects. Without their powers to balance his, the power of the Earth Warder had been slowly seeking a vessel that could hold all of the power without tearing the vessel apart. When the elements had been turned against Go’el by Garrosh, the process had sped up, but instead of abandoning Go’el, the power had begun to change him into a suitable vessel - a vessel that had started to become shaped by the mind of one who wanted to use Go’el as a weapon of destruction, a weapon that would free one of the worst madmen Azeroth had ever seen - a madman raised into power by a Go’el’s own hand - and allow him to once more try to shape the world into one of his vision.
"I'd like to see the looks on the faces of the other dragons when they realize there's a black dragon on Azeroth as the Earth Warder." Go’el said lowly, allow gaining his feet.
Athena laughed, a deep, throaty sound. "Time enough for that later. I made a promise to someone, and I intend to keep it. Besides, I think there's someone waiting for you."
Go’el felt his heart give a little jump at that. "How do we escape this place, though?"
"You tell me." Athena raised her wings. "This is your doing."
"Is it?"
"I touched your face and was brought here. So, you tell me how to escape it."
Go’el blinked and looked around the empty field. If this was a prison of the mind, then all he had to do was will the prison to open. He looked up at Athena. "Do you think you could find your own way back to your body?"
"Do you always ask inane questions?"
Despite himself, Go’el smiled. Then he closed his eyes and willed his spirit to return to his body. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, and then Go’el began to feel the world he'd created in his mind fracturing, tearing itself apart. He didn't dare open his eyes, but he could sense when Athena's presence vanished like smoke caught on a breeze. He felt himself growing heavier with each passing minute and realized that heaviness was his body. The heavier he grew, the more he became aware of things: pressure on his skin from clothing; the knowledge that he wasn't alone; and then his senses began to return. Slowly at first, then stronger and stronger. His sense of touch returned first, and he felt cool stone beneath his palms, rough fabric and furs covering his body; then smell, and he could scent blood and the scent of Aggra and two unknown females he had to assume were Athena and Karidormi; then at last his hearing began to return. He only heard muffled things at first, like his head was trapped under water. He could hear Aggra's beautiful voice, then that of another's, probably Karidormi. Everything became more clear as time passed.
Then there was a light tap against his cheek. "Wake up, sleeping beauty," he heard Athena say. "Nap time's over. It's time to remind people who we really are."
Go’el opened his eyes to peer at Athena, in her human form. She grinned and leaned back, allowing him to see Aggra and Karidormi. Aggra's eyes filled with tears but she didn't let them fall. Instead, she stepped over to Go’el and knelt beside him, helping him sit up, since his body protested the movement after being comatose for so long. She helped him stand then, supporting him until he felt strong enough to stand on his own.
He looked at Karidormi. "Thank you."
The bronze dragon smiled at him. "None needed. I was just doing my job as a bronze dragon."
Go’el shook his head. "Not many would do as you've done. Fewer still would've persevered in the face of all that you no doubt faced, especially from her." He tilted his head toward Athena, who only raised a brow at him.
Karidormi looked at Athena as well. "No, I don't think many would've gone as far. I guess I'm just stubborn."
"All right, children," said Athena before Go’el could say anymore. "Mommy has a bastard she needs to hunt down and murder in painful ways." She looked at Go’el. "Are you coming with me?"
Go’el looked at Aggra. His wife gave him a dangerous smile. "If the Earth Warder is willing, I say we all go show them what a proper shaman can do." She said.
Go’el returned her smile and looked at Athena. "Shall we show them what the new Aspect of the Black Flight is capable of?"
Athena's garnet eyes flashed. "Like I said. I have a promise to keep."
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Dawn of the Dragon