Chapter 2 Chapter two

"This meeting," said the Life-Binder, the great Red Dragonqueen Alexstrasza, "may be uncomfortable." Cleostraz chuckled, "My favorite, your skill in understatement is really high." In the Crystal Red Temple, the two red dragons, the Great Queen and Cleostrasz - her only surviving consort - did not appear in the form of dragons, but chose their own elves.Each dragon family has its own sanctuary, independent of time and space, which is a magical dimension in itself.The interior of each temple can reflect the characteristics of their respective ethnic groups.The Crystal Red Temple looks like it was the kingdom of the high elves before the Scourge invaded.The mountains stretched and lingered, and the leaves reflected a warm crimson light.The only entrance to the temple is a portal.Recently, the temple was badly damaged by the invasion of black dragons and an enemy claiming to be the Twilight Dragon Clan.From then on, the red dragon began to strictly guard the portal, and the temple gradually restored its former style.

Here they are alone, surrounded by their children.Hundreds of dragon eggs gather here: those of the queen and her mates, and those of other red dragons.Not all red dragons use the Crimson Temple as their spawning location.For red dragons, and indeed for all dragons, the world is their home.But having said that, only here is what their hearts want, a safe harbor, a holy place that belongs to them alone. "With the death of Malygos, the vast majority of blue dragons have become agitated. Despite the circumstances, I cannot blame them," Alexstrasza continued. Malygos, the dragon king of magic and the leader of the blue dragon clan, has been full of tragedies in his life from beginning to end.Thousands of years ago, Malygos was driven mad by Deathwing and never got better.Not long ago, he finally got rid of his nightmarish madness. Except for the black dragon who was full of hatred in his heart, all other dragon clans were very happy for this news.But the relief and joy of his recovery was short-lived, poignantly short.The other dragons soon learned that after Malygos regained his sanity, he devoted his energies to studying the role of magic in Azeroth—and came to a shocking conclusion.Malygos concluded that the world's arcane powers were out of balance—and that mortals were to blame for the misuse of magic.

So he started a war. Malygos diverted all the mana flowing through the leylines of Azeroth to his throne, the Arcane Heart.The consequences of doing so are violent, dangerous and deadly.Cracks in the Earth's crust created unstable rifts that broke the fabric of the magical dimension known as the Twisting Nether.Malygos is trying to "fix" what he believes is the misuse of magic, a wrong that must be stopped...at any cost. The battle of the Olympic core, a fierce battle between dragons and dragons.In the end, the Life-Binder made a painful decision that Malygos, who had just come out of thousands of years of madness, must die.

Alexstrasza took her race and allied herself with the mages of the Kirin Tor.At this critical juncture, the remaining Dragon Clan agreed to join the Red Dragon.The dragon clan jointly formed the Longmian Alliance Army.Together, they defeated and killed Malygos, bringing the war to an end.The current blue dragon clan is in deep mourning, leaderless. The meeting that Alexstrasza is about to attend at Wyrmrest Temple is the first meeting of the Wyrmrest Alliance since the death of the Blue Dragon King.Since the war subsided, the coalition had become more precious to the dragons—precious, and scarce.

"Honestly, I don't believe they're able to speak as a group -- or at least, sensibly," Kleostraz said. She smiled and stroked his chin, her eyes warm and full of love. "My love, you've been so popular at the last few gatherings because of the way you talk." Cleostrasz shook his shoulders in embarrassment, leaning affectionately on her hand. "I can't deny it. I was never the most popular among your spouses. And now that I'm the only one left, I'm afraid I'll mess with you a lot. But I'll say what I have. It's mine duty; that's the best way I can serve."

"That's one reason I love you so much," Alexstrasza said. "But to be honest, you can't please other dragons like this. This kind of prejudice against blue dragons-Malygos makes the decision, not all blue dragons. You can't target them like this. Even if there are no other dragons just because The color of their scales suggests they will betray, and the blue dragons must have had enough." He hesitated. "I—you know, I admire Kalecgos," he said, "and there are others who seem to be able to keep their heads above water. But most blue dragons can't see past their losses—they need to Blame others. What's more, they feel that our Red Dragon has wronged them the most."

For a moment, her perfect brow furrowed slightly, and her musical voice sharpened. "I appreciate your frankness, but my ethnic group doesn't think like my spouse does." "You have the biggest heart in Azeroth. But sometimes kindness can blind a—" "You think I didn't see clearly? Me? I led my race against another Dragonlord in order to save lives that seemed so fragile to us. You enjoy being among mortals, Cleostrasz, But don’t think that’s why you’re the only one who can see.” He opened his mouth to refute, but closed it again. "I'm just saying this out of concern."

His queen softened again. "I know," she said. "But maybe your... concern for the blue dragon may not be well received in this meeting." "Never before," he admitted, grinning slightly, "so we're back to the very beginning." He raised her slender hands and kissed her soft palms. "Then, my love, don't take me away. You are the Red Dragon Queen. They will listen to you. I am but a small stone between the scales - annoying, insignificant." She nodded, her red hair flaming. "This first meeting, the atmosphere will be very tense. Later, when we start discussing plans, your insights will come in handy. The theme of today, I think, is just about reuniting and healing wounds."

Alexstrasza leaned forward.Their lips met, soft and sweet.They all like to show people in the posture of elves. One of the advantages is that their skin is more sensitive to caresses than scales.They took a step back, smiling, and the argument just now—if that could be called an argument—was all forgotten. "I'll be back soon, hopefully with some good news." She stepped back.Her smiling face began to change, protruding forward, becoming a proud dragon's mouth, glowing crimson, and her dazzling golden eyes grew larger.With lightning speed, she has changed from an elf woman into a shining red dragon.

Cleostrasz had also changed.He liked both forms, but this was the natural one—a huge, powerful dragon.In a blink of an eye, the two red dragons, who could immediately recognize their types—and identities, stood side by side in the crystal red temple. Alexstrasza flicked her horns, then nudged her mate with a movement that no other race could have believed such a behemoth could make.Then, she leaped forward, with a movement so graceful that it didn't match her size, flapped her powerful wings a few times, and disappeared. Cleostrasz watched her go with love in his eyes.Then he turned to the scattered dragon eggs.He looked at his unhatched offspring with pride and paternal love in his chest.He remembered a human custom he liked so much, and the humor made his huge eyes narrow.He said, "How about a bedtime story, huh?"

Alexstrasza flew in the temple, concentrating on putting aside those melancholy, trying to immerse himself in this extremely healing beauty.There are dragon eggs everywhere—in small pits, under mangrove trees, and in special nests beside boulders.On either side of the portal are the guardians of the temple. These powerful dragonmen guard the entrance to the temple, fulfilling their duties of guarding the hatchlings waiting to hatch.This is the future, and love guards this place, which makes her very relieved.Because from this moment, from the meeting of the four dragon clans, the future is about to set sail here. The black dragonflight, as reliable, steadfast and loyal as the benevolent land they were supposed to protect and live in peace with, chose to follow their mad leader Deathwing and let evil take root in their hearts.Since then, the black dragons no longer pretended to show their interest in other dragons, including Naris, who often showed a secret smile, did not stay in the temple.Alexstrasza wondered if it would be possible to see the colorful dragons gathered together again in this lifetime.She felt sad about this thought, but this kind of sadness had a long history and she was used to it. This did not dampen her hope that the meeting would bring positive results. She quickly flew over the portal guarding the Crystal Red Temple, flapped her wings, and flew towards the top of Wyrmrest Temple.Wyrmrest Temple has been a holy place for dragons for thousands of years. Its slender and elegant lines reach up to the sky, and its snow-covered arches and spiers are all-encompassing, but never closed.The temple is divided into several layers from bottom to top, and one layer is smaller than the upper layer.The Northrend sky hung over the building, a dull blue-gray with a few catkin-like white clouds.The snow below is so pure and dazzling. At the top of the temple is a circular floor decorated with flowers and geometric patterns.A precious orb was suspended not far above the ground, and the light emitted was constantly changing between white and blue.It has no practical use, the only important function is: it symbolizes the unity of the Wyrmrest Alliance. Alexstrasza saw dozens of dragons gathered under the Union Orb.A few of her red dragonflight were already there, along with some blue dragons and a handful of green dragons.Of course, the black dragons weren't here--if they did come, bloodshed would be inevitable--but Alexstrasza didn't see the bronze dragons, not even the jolly but mighty Chromie. .She was disappointed, though not exactly unexpected. Nozdormu the Eternal, the bronze dragonlord, has not been heard from for a long time.A group of enemies calling themselves the Infinite Dragons has launched an attack on the timeline, and though their motives are unknown, they have been intent on destroying the real timeline.Alexstrasza decided that Nozdormu and the other bronze dragons had had enough to deal with. Just as she was about to land, a sharp and angry voice reached her ears. "An Aspect!" the voice shouted.Alexstrasza recognized the voice of Arygos.The child of Malygos and his beloved consort Saragossa, Arygos is an aggressive, outspoken blue dragon.He openly sided with his father in the Battle of the Aurora, obediently obeying and supporting Malygos.It seems that even now, he is still a loyal fan of his father. "The red dragonflight and a group of mages—they're not dragons!—decided that they should slay an Aspect. One of only five dragonlords—four if we don't count Deathwing the Destroyer. You How could one lay hands on one's own kind? Who would be the next target—Ysera the docile? Nozdormu the steadfast? If anyone should be held accountable, it should be Alexstrasza. The so-called Life-binder, seems to have no compunction about death when it suits her." While Arygos was speaking, several dragons had already raised their heads, silently watching the aforementioned Life-Binder approaching.Landing gracefully beside the young dragon, Alexstrasza said peacefully, "I have been entrusted with the sacred duty of protecting life. Malygos' decision and subsequent actions endangered thousands of lives. Arygos, My deepest condolences on your father's death. It was a painful decision. However, what he did has hurt too many people and has the potential to turn the world upside down." Arygos took a quick step back, narrowing his eyes, and raised his huge blue dragon head. "Based on the information we have, and in retrospect, I still cannot say that my father's motives were entirely wrong. The use of magic - or rather, its indiscriminate abuse - is indeed a big problem. If you disagree with him What he did, and even if his actions were indeed inappropriate, there must be other different ways to target Malygos!" "You said it yourself—he is the Lord of the Blue Dragons," Alexstrasza continued. "And now he has lost the reason of madness to mitigate his actions. Arygos, if you really care about his safety so much, you should help us find a way to control him." "Life-Binder," the voice belonged to a young male, his calm contrasted sharply with Arygos' agitation. "Arygos simply made what he believed to be the right choice at the time, like so many blue dragons. I'm sure he was as positive as anyone else, wanting to move forward, rebuild his pack, and accept that we all Acceptable responsibility," Kalecgos said. Alexstrasza was glad Kalecgos was here.This was the young blue dragon her mate admired in particular.Cleostrasz said he was able to speak sanely.She thought to herself, he has already done this. "I can speak for myself," Alygos growled, giving Kalecgos an exasperated look. Many blue dragons feel that they are being tracked and persecuted by other dragonkind.In Alexstrasza's view, Arygos was more elitist than other blue dragons.She believes that this has something to do with the young blue dragon's past-the past of relying on other dragons.This isn't the first time Alexstrasza has mourned the loss of Arygos' older sister, Kylygosa.Before the war was over, her sister's spouse was killed and she disappeared without a trace.The conclusion is realistic and unpleasant: young blue dragons, just pregnant with their first hatchlings, perish in battle.And because she has always dared to fight against Arygos, and joined hands with a very small number of blue dragons to fight against Malygos, she is likely to be killed by her own kind, which makes her death sadder. "I do see the negative effects of my late father's actions," Arygos continued, hesitation in his voice. "We're still feeling the effects," said Avsa Straz, who has long been a loyal supporter of Alexstrasza. "The world is feeling. These are caused by the decision of the King of Blue Dragons, which you and other blue dragons supported. Young Arygos, it is not enough to admit your mistakes, you need Correct it." Arygos narrowed his eyes. "Correction? Will you correct it, Evtha Strasz? Or you, Alexstrasza? You took my father. You left the entire blue dragonflight leaderless. Can you bring him back?" His There was anger in the voice and the whole body, and there was real pain in the relentlessness. "Arygos!" Kalec snapped. "Malygos made his choice, and he wasn't mad then. He could have righted his mistakes at any time, but he didn't." "I did not enjoy killing him, Arygos," Alexstrasza said. "My heart is still aching from this loss. We have all lost - all dragonkind, all Aspects. This is a time for healing, and we should help each other, not just ignore it." "Yes," came the slight voice, immediately ending the dispute just now. "We should help each other and hurry up. Twilight is coming and we have to be ready." The voice was soft and sweet, and the speaking green dragon came almost shy.The other dragons took a few steps back to give her enough room to move forward.She walked with light steps, unlike other dragons' strong steps.Now, her eyes, which seemed to have been closed since time immemorial, are wide open, revealing iridescent pupils.She kept turning her head, as if ready to gaze at something new all the time. "What is this twilight hour you speak of, Ysera?" Alexstrasza asked her sister.After thousands of years in the Emerald Dream, Ysera finally awoke.Neither Alexstrasza nor the others were sure she had come back from there at all; it seemed Ysera was still not fully rooted in the world, erratic.Like the Aspects, most members of the Green Dragonflight live in the Emerald Dream for a long time.As guardians of nature, even these green dragons seem unsure of how to interact with her.To put it lightly, Ysera's integration with the Waking World is not tight. "Did you see something in the dream?" Alexstrasza asked. "I saw everything in the dream," Ysera replied curtly. "Might be true, but it won't help at all," said Arygos, taking advantage of Ysera's distraction. "Ysera, you are no longer a Sleeper, but you are still one of the Aspects. Perhaps, if you see everything in your dreams, you also see many things that are not there." "Oh, you're quite right," Ysera agreed quickly. Alexstrasza twitched secretly.Even she didn't know what to do with Ysera.She's sane—but she's clearly struggling with how to coherently put together the various things she's witnessing.Today she can't help much. "It would be great if we could work together—just before this twilight hour." Alexstrasza looked at Kalec and Arygos. "The blue dragons must determine how to choose a new Guardian and provide compensation for the repairs. You must prove to us that we can trust you again. You must have realized that." "We must?" Arygos responded. "Why do we 'must', Alexstrasza? What are you to decide what the blue dragonflight should or shouldn't do? To judge us like that? You didn't promise any compensation, but it's because of you that we need Choose a new dragon king. What are you going to do to prove to us that you can be trusted?" Her eyes widened slightly at the insult, but Arygos continued. "How do we know you won't kill me? If I'm chosen as the Aspect, I mean if," he added hastily. "And your consort, Krasus, as he likes to be called—he is not a friend of the blue dragon. He has repeatedly attacked us verbally. I have to note that he did not come to this gathering. Perhaps , you don’t want him to come here either?” "Kryostrasz saved your life, Arygos," Kalecgos reminded. "At that time, your father had fallen into madness, and he even abandoned you." This was the pain in Arygos' heart, and few people dared to mention it in front of him.At that time, a clutch of dragon eggs including Kalecgos and Kirygosa was indeed abandoned by the mad Malygos.It was Kryostrasz who discovered these, and many others, and brought them into Nozdormu's care.Afterwards, these dragon eggs were handed over to the Red Dragon Clan.This is a shining example of cooperation between the three clans, who share a common goal: to care for the unhatched, helpless whelps, whether they are red, blue, green or bronze when they emerge from their shells. dragon. "Although I have some personal grievances with him, that doesn't affect me learning to respect him. I always think he is very reasonable and wise." Kalek continued, and Arygos narrowed his eyes . "He didn't act against our race, as long as I didn't say anything, he said a bad word." "Really? If that's the case, then what are you?" Arygos shot back. "Enough!" Alexstrasza snapped.She hadn't expected the party to go well, but she definitely hadn't imagined it would turn into this brawl. "The dragons have many enemies out there, and we shouldn't be spending our precious time fighting each other! Deathwing has returned, stronger than ever - and his return nearly shattered Azeroth. Now all but the Black Dragonflight , he has another ally: the cult Twilight's Hammer. Whatever the twilight hour Ysera was referring to, the twilight dragons are our top priority. The Crimson Temple is still recovering from their last attack slowly recovering. If we can't find something to let go of these insignificant—" "You murdered my father! How can you call it insignificant?!" Alexstrasza is not easily angered, but she now walks towards the young blue dragon, declaring, "I said it: enough! We should all move on. Let the past go. Now we are in danger." Didn't you hear me? Didn't you understand? Deathwing is back!" She was almost up to Arygos' nose, her ears flat against the sides of his head. "Our world has never been so fragile! Yes, we dragons are mighty creatures, but even we should fear what is to come. We live in this world, Arygos. We must protect it , heal it, or even the dragons—including you blue dragons!—will be destroyed. We must find—” The other dragons raised their necks and looked into the air.Then Alexstrasza heard and saw them too. dragon. For a moment, Alexstrasza wished it was the bronze dragonborn.But immediately she saw their colors, and realized with horror who they really were. "Twilight dragon," she whispered. They are coming towards Wyrmrest Temple.