Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

That makes sense," Krasus mused. "You can travel between timelines.But you must proceed with caution.It's easy to get caught up in illusions. " "I can literally travel between timelines," Thrall agrees. "But I'm not completely out of my timeline. I know this because I've visited it many times. Blackmoore has been completely out of his timeline, and that's because someone helped him. There must be something behind him. The help of the Infinite Dragon Army; this is the only explanation that makes sense. It is for this reason that the ancient trees are so troubled, and now their knowledge is also flawed."

Krasus rubbed his temples.Thrall looked at him intently, and now he realized how much he wished the red dragon mage could provide him with a solution. "What if he kills you, Thrall?" Theresa asked the two of them. "Most likely guess? Disaster," Krasus said bluntly. "I simply can't believe that in the real timeline, Thrall would have died at the hands of Blackmoore from a completely different timeline. Thrall is an important part of the future of his timeline. Killing him would mean So many things will cease to exist. Not only our timeline will collapse, but I believe that all timelines will be doomed."

"And from another perspective?" Teresa asked. "Think of this timeline as, frankly, something that shouldn't exist—an illusion, so to speak—and there is a possibility of restoring balance." Krasus held up a hand. "I am not a bronze dragon; I urge you to bear that in mind. I will only reason logically based on what little knowledge I have." "I have to get out of here," Thrall growled.He squeezed and loosened his palm. "I must find Nozdormu and end this. But I don't know how." He sat back and buried his head in his hands.He was completely at a loss.He failed the dragonflight and Ysera, failed Agra and the Earthen Ring, and failed his world.A small hand rested on his shoulder and squeezed it lightly, and he covered it with his own.He failed Theresa too; oh, poor Theresa, she shouldn't even have lived.

He thought back to the gleam of the scales, the gleam that had lured him to try his luck, to try another timeline.At least he had an answer; he knew who was after him.He doesn't want to admit how badly he's been hit by it. "Ysera's worldview...is different from most people's," Krasus whispered. "But it holds a deeper truth than those awake can comprehend. If you couldn't help her, Thrall, I don't think she would have entrusted you with such a responsibility." Thrall, who was too discouraged, was unable to defend himself.Nothing is real.The shiny scales that tempted him to travel between timelines, an assassin who shouldn't exist, some deep dragon secrets—he tried to record it all in his head, but felt dizzy.Theresa's hand on his shoulder wasn't real, but it was real.What is a dream?What is true?for what--

Then suddenly, with the softness of a breeze and the force of an explosion, Thrall understood. Again he saw Medivh the black bird speaking to him: this place is full of visions.There's only one way you can find what you're really looking for--and there's only one way you can find yourself. And Krasus's words: But you must be careful.It's easy to get caught up in illusions. …see this timeline as, frankly, something that shouldn’t exist… a hallucination, so to speak. ... The timeline is not full of illusions.This timeline is not an illusion. Time itself is an illusion.

Historians and prophets have done a lot of research into the past and the future.Numerous ancient books describe ancient battles, strategies, historical events, and how they changed the world.There are also all kinds of prophecies, hopes, wonders and speculations about the next five hundred years—or just the next five minutes. But the only true reality is the present. Scholars would debate fiercely about the things he wrestled with, but in his mind it was suddenly so simple, so obvious.There is always only one moment. this moment. Every passing moment is a memory.It's gone.Every moment in the future is either hope or fear.It's not here yet.

There is only the present, this moment, and even that momentarily becomes the past, and the future moment becomes this moment. So beautiful, so peaceful, Thrall felt he let go of a lot, things he didn't even fully understand.Like a bundle dropped to the floor, they slid off his shoulders.Obsession with past behavior.Concerns about future behavior. But there is also the need to plan, the need to regret—wisdom says these things are necessary even in this moment.Understanding the past is about being perfect in this moment.Predicting the future has the potential to shape the next moment. But once he finally figured it out, it all became so much easier—feather-light, charming, and harmless.

Yes, he was trapped in time.Trapped on this seemingly endless path of looking back — or, more recently, glimpsing possible futures. But all he needs to do is to really live in this moment to step out of this cycle.Then Nozdormu— Thrall blinked, stunned by the vastness of his knowledge.Now he understood why he was so enmeshed in these personal timelines, yet he saw Nozdormu in each of them.Thrall is stuck in a single moment—a momentous moment in his own past.The mighty Eternal Dragon is trapped all the time. But with his relief just now, Thrall knew that now he could find this great behemoth.

Krasus was smiling at him.Thrall knew that in the real timeline the Red Dragon was dead, but that wasn't the truth; that wasn't real.that's.Teresa too, real and alive.He could almost feel the breath in and out of her lungs, and hear every beautiful heartbeat, as if it was the only heartbeat that existed. Indeed. "You already understand," Krasus said, with a faint smile on his lips. "I've figured it out," Thrall said.He turned to Theresa, looked her in the eyes and smiled. "I'm glad to be with you at this moment." Not happy to be together all the time.For this moment.

He closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he knew he was in a place completely out of time.He was floating, and even broke free from the shackles of gravity. What illuminated the darkness around him was the soft light from countless portals in the true sense.Thrall could catch glimpses of golden scales through each door. Such an astonishing and unsettling sight, but Thrall felt at peace as he drifted through nothingness surrounded by everything.His mind was calm and contained, carrying something it couldn't have carried for more than a moment - but he knew that was all he needed.Just for a moment.

Then, feeling himself pushed gently into the embrace of the soft sand, he realized he was in the Caverns of Time again.He opened his eyes and looked at the Eternal Dragon. So breathtaking that he saw more than just an individual.On each scale, Thrall saw moments in the glitter that had led him on such a wondrous journey. his moments. All the great deeds of Thrall's life are played out on the scales of the Eternal Dragon.There, he donned the armor of Orgrim Doomhammer.Here, he fought alongside Cairne Bloodhoof, defending the great tauren village.There he summoned the elementals for the first time; there he stood beside Grom Hellscream.Countless moments create a hero, a legendary moment.Moments that literally changed his world. "You see~ have you arrived?" The voice was a low rumble, deeper than any dragon voice Thrall had ever heard.The voice throbbed with his blood, sang in his soul. "I—saw it," he whispered. "You...see~ what did you see?" "Most important moment of my life," Thrall said, his eyes bouncing from scale to scale.So much, he could barely bear it.But the moment was able to master it, and it did. "Achievements that changed the course of history," agreed Nozdormu. "I control them all. All great achievements belong to all lives that ever lived. But not only." Thrall was fascinated by the cheerful and beautiful sights, longing to be overwhelmed by them.With pity for his longing, he finally rooted lightly in the sand, now Thrall looked at now Nozdormu. He turned to stare at the dragon's face.The dragon's shining eyes were the color of sunlight, and there was a wisdom in them that was almost impossibly ancient, yet strangely young.Powerful, beyond Thrall's comprehension.wonderful. "There is so much more to life than the great moments the world has seen," Nozdormu continued. "You have to get it yourself." And Thrall did.Discover Teresa's first impassioned note, the hand she waved to him as a little girl.In the quiet night in the camp after the war, people toasted around the fire and told stories with laughter.Transform into a ghost wolf and run hand in hand with the elements. "This strong hand in my hand," he murmured, recalling Agra's tan fingers holding him. "Through these we receptively receive, we can learn. From this we perceive. Glory, war, great moments, we give to this world. But without receiving, we cannot give. We cannot share our Something that is not within. This stillness, this pause between breaths, is what really makes us. Gives us the strength to make it through all our journeys." agra. Those moments flickered and vanished, and all Thrall was looking at was - or at least - the beautiful golden scales of the Keeper of Time.He also realized that he and Nozdormu were not the only beings in the Caverns of Time.Surrounded by a few silent but cheerful members of the Bronze Dragon Legion, they had already come here and sat quietly beside them. Nozdormu looked at them all, including his son Anacross, then looked back at Thrall. "I owe you a debt, and I don't think I can pay it," Nozdormu said. "You brought me back. I was ~everywhere and nowhere to be found at the same time. I've forgotten the first ~lesson. I, the Eternal Dragon." He made a rumbling sound, partly self-deprecating Pleasure, part annoyance. "Some people think that I, surrounded by the sands of time, can better remember those tiny things." This mighty palm in your hand. "I know why you are here," Nozdormu continued.Sal suddenly felt shy. "Or, all the reasons why you are here, some of which need not be so. Tell me, my friend." Thrall did as he did, telling the story of everything that had happened since Ysera's visit.Nozdormu's nostrils flared and his large eyes narrowed as he described the ancient tree. "They're also guardians of time, in their own way," he said, without elaborating. Thrall continued, talking about the mysterious assassin and the various presentations of the timeline he experienced. "I learned that my pursuer was none other than my possible worst enemy," he said quietly. "Aedlas Blackmoore—a strong, treacherous, determined Aedlas Blackmoore." "And," sighed Nozdormu, "an agent of the Infinite Dragonflight." "how do you--" Nozdormu raised one front paw commandingly. "Wait a minute. I've heard your story, and with everything else I know . . . I've come to a very worrying conclusion. One," he said, not just to Thrall, Even more so for the bronze dragons gathered here, "It's a hard conclusion to accept. But we have to accept it. My children...everything is connected." The bronze dragon exchanged glances. "What do you mean, father?" asked Anacross. "We know that interfering with the timeline can have serious repercussions." "No, no, it's...more serious than that...more far-reaching...inconceivably far away. And this connection is about us. Dragons. At least, when I'm trapped in every moment In time, good things found me. I was subject to the illusion of time. I was subject to the illusion of time. I saw something. I saw things sprout, gain power and manifest. I tell you, this is no accident." He Taking a deep breath, he gazed at them. "Everything that has happened over the millennia to hurt the Aspects and their dragonkind - they are not coincidences, nor are they random events. A change in the timeline, creating a monster out of Blackmoore. Hurt too many people The Emerald Nightmare. The attack of the twilight dragonflight, Malygos, even the madness of Neltharion—they're all intertwined. Maybe even all orchestrated by the same mastermind." For a while, no one spoke.So many events - interconnected?So extensive is the conspiracy that only this part of it begins to manifest itself even after such a long time? Thrall broke the silence. "What happened?" he asked.He didn't even know about some of these events.Just asking him to understand is like a fantasy. "Destroy the Aspects and all dragonkind forever. Destroy all chance of order and stability." He turned to Thrall, lowering his head to orc level.As he spoke, there was sadness in those awe-inspiring eyes. "I was lost in the timeline, Thrall. Stuck in every moment. Do you know why I got there in the first place?" Sal shook his head. "I went there, trying to grasp how something dark came to be, and how to stop it. You asked me how I knew the Infinite Dragonflight was behind the creation and liberation of Blackmoore." He hesitated, looking away, unable to meet the gaze of Thrall's blue eyes. "I know this because... I sent him after you."