Karp
patreon
Chapter 127
🕑 Added 2024-12-13 20:07:06 +0000 UTCFloating in the sky above the island of Quel'Danas, the seven leaders (and only true Dragons) of the Bronze Dragonflight had gathered. All around them, whelps, drakes, and lesser Dragons swarmed the skies in their hundreds.
Off to the side, Chromie and Dante were observing the battle, and making small talk while they waited for their father and master's command.
“It would seem the Champions of Azeroth are more inept than I had thought. Are you certain these are the best Heroes you could muster?” Dante questioned in a slow, deliberate tone. His calm Tauren timbre provided no judgement towards the Gnome, but his raised eyebrow and flared nostrils said it all.
“Don't question my methods Dante!” Chromie crossed her arms, and huffed.
“...” Dante stared expssioesllessly at her.
“Okay, fine! Whichever adventurers accepted the mail I sent out first were the ones who were accepted for the mission! Those letters traveled through thousands of timelines, but only 40 Horde, and 40 Alliance could accept. We were bound to get a few weirdos, but I never expected…expected this!” Chromie gestured wildly with her tiny hands down at the Alliance adventurers murdering one another over housing in Silvermoon.
“An oversight we shall not overlook in the future.” Nozdormu said as he flew over towards the pair.
“Time Lord” Dante and Chromie said at the same time, and bowed.
“This plan, while meritorious, has not gone as we had hoped.”
Chromie bit her lip, and opened her mouth to protest, then held herself back.
Sure, they had saved Liadrin, and Alistair Bloodsworn from death, but most of their pieces were still tied up. Aegwynn and Jaina were fighting Kael’Thas and that Loa Troll girl. Thrall was being useless like always, and who knew what Grom was up to.
Their raid was beginning to look like a bust!
If this kept, then they'd-
“We must take the fight to Vandercross and Nightsong personally. If we fear for our lives, then the Sunwell will be restored. In every future that this comes to pass, we die. I am not the only one who sees that, correct?” Andormu, one of the Bronze leaders spoke up.
A silent consensus was met between everyone present.
Whatever futures they saw involving the early restoration of the Sunwell, the Bronze Dragonflight was not a part of it.
“Yes, Chromie's failure was quite massive. This raid was most unimpressive. If we are to secure the timeline, then we must do so ourselves!” Soridormi, Nozdormu's prime consort, looked the other leaders in the eye, and expressed her concern.
‘That bitch!’ Chromie internally swore as everyone directed their attention at her.
“So what are we waiting for, let's slay the baddy, and save the day!” Chromie waved her hand, and faux cheered in her high pitched Gnomish voice.
At that moment, all eyes turned to Nozdormu.
The closed his eyes and slowly contemplated the future.
“We are the keepers of time charged by the Titans. Although our fates from this battle are clouded, we must do what is right. For Azeroth.”
“For Azeroth.” The other true Dragons agreed.
“I don't like this Dante.” Chromie whispered to her long time friend.
“We have sent countless adventurers to their deaths over the centuries, Chromie. It is time for us to share in that burden. To fight for what we say we believe in.” Dante calmly replied.
Chromie stomped her foot, and huffed.
The last time they fought Nightsong, they had ambushed her with 40 Champions of Azeroth, and had targeted her child. This time, the Elves were prepared, and there was an entire army between the dragonflight and the Sunwell.
“Hourglass.” Nozdormu's voice traveled across the battlefield once more as he unleashed another spell.
This time, a giant, translucent hourglass the size of a 8-story building spawned in the sky.
Each second that ticked by, a watermelon-sized granular of sand would tumble down.
“Go forth, my children, and have no fear. Father time shall protect you, so long as the sands remain.” Nozdormu commanded.
Afterwards, the whelps, drakes, and lesser-Dragons all took flight, and began their descent onto the Sunwell.
The floating towers and levitating buildings that surrounded the crater began to shoot Arcane, fire, and lightning bolts at the oncoming horde.
Countless members of the Bronze Dragonflight perished in this initial charge.
Yet as they died, they faded out of existence, and returned to their spot in the sky where they had first launched their attack from.
The more creatures that had their lives saved this way, the faster the sand in the hourglass tumbled.
Already, a fifth of the sand had been diminished as the first wave of attackers were forced back.
Chromie breathed a sigh of relief at the sight, yet was worried that the sand was being depleted too quickly. She tugged on Dante's arm in a hurried manner.
“Let's go, Dante! If we're late to the party, we'll have lost our chance!” Chromie transformed into her Dragon form, and began the descent towards the Sunwell.
During her flight, she was forced to maneuver left and right, lest she catch a stray hit.
“Why are these cannons shooting so fast?!” Chromie shouted in surprise.
Not only that, but these cannons were weird, and looked like lamps!
“I peered into the past while researching Vandercross. He calls them Dwarven Cannons, and the floating buildings with enchanted bricks, the Tower of Jenga.” Dante supplied as he followed right behind her.
Chromie frowned, as only 8 of these buildings were enough to kill hundreds of drakes in mere minutes.
“At this rate, we won't even reach Nightsong!” Chromie said in worry.
“Work with me!” Dante surpassed her, and called over his shoulder.
Diving headfirst at one of the towers, Dante breathed his flames at the oncoming projectiles.
Each one of the Bronze Dragon's attacks carried with it a feeling of time, and erased these lesser magical attacks from the timeline.
As he closed with the tower, Dante became the focus of the automatic defense turrets, allowing the lesser members of the flight to move past the towers, and continue their assault on the Sunwell.
However, as the target, Dante was forced to bear the brunt of the tower's full throttle attack!
“Dante!” Chromie screamed out as her friend was caught by a deluge of flame and lightning.
“I'm fine! Attack the shields!” Dante said in a stressed tone. The Dragon had a barrier around him that erased the oncoming attacks, but his mana was draining fast.
Chromie struck at the tower with a combination of her breath and her claws.
With her flames, she erased a portion of the shield, and then struck tore a hole in ienso she could slip through.
Closing with the tower, Chromie began to rip and tear at it the best she could.
After about a dozen minutes of frenzied effort, she had completely tore it apart.
“We did it, Dante!” Chromie cheered.
However, when she looked around for her constant companion, she didn't see him at all.
Looking back to her starting point, she saw him back up with the hourglass.
She felt some relief knowing her friend was okay, but the sands of time had depleted to less than a quarter!
Chromie worriedly took a peak around the battlefield.
6 of 8 of the towers had been destroyed, and the smaller members of her flight were currently attacking the Sunwell.
Elves were sniping them down one by one, such that very few made it within melee range.
Furthermore, she noticed that the most useless of their kind, the whelps, were no longer being brought back at the hourglass!
Their tiny bodies laid broken and bloodied on the rocks and crags down below!
Chromie felt a chill go down her spine, and the urge to flee spread throughout her system.
Everyone else might have seen a future where the Sunwell was restored early, and the entire Bronze Dragonflight had perished, but she knew she could hide.
Chromie was considering running, when a heavy pressure descended upon the area, like a meteor slowly descending from the heavens, a massive shadow covered the land.
The Aspect of Time, Nozdormu had joined the battle!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the Dragons mounted their assault from the sky, Nightsong was trailing behind Varrus, and acted as the final line of defense.
Nightsong looked lovingly at her son. Her only flesh and blood. Her only connection to this rotten world.
Holding out a pale hand, Nightsong cursed the Bronze Dragonflight for their schemes.
His first: steps, words, love interest, play, spell, and so many more firsts, lost to her.
She had lost the opportunity to teach him the art of the sword, or even her own unique branch of magic.
Whenever she looked upon him, she was reminded of that little giggling boy. Of that loving smile.
Seeing him so stressed, so eager to finish this mission whilst his lover was away.
It pained her.
It hurt her deeply that the only thing she cared for in this damned state of unlife was her son.
Being an Undead, a Darkfallen, it was excruciating. Mentally that is.
Dark thoughts constantly interrupted her thought processes, and melancholy threatened to devour her psyche.
Yet as always, she had to stay strong.
General. Pioneer. Hero.
All epitaphs others had used to label her with.
All worthless in her eyes.
There was only one title that mattered to her.
Mother.
As a mother, she worried about her son. Every night between her efforts to cleanse the Ghostlands, she would return to the Vandercross Estate, and await his return.
When he was in the room, she would drink up his expressions, and fuel herself to push forward one more day.
Varrus's laughter, embarrassed sighs, and sarcastic attitude was like a healing salve to her world weary heart.
But now? His nervousness, his worry?
They had become her concern!
‘Do not worry my little Var-Var, mom will protect you.’ Nightsong silently promised to herself.
Feeling a shift in the currents of time, Nightsong glanced up just in time to see the majority of the defenses set up around the Sunwell crumble.
Those towers Varrus was so proud in had all but been destroyed, and the Darkfallen she commanded had engaged the enemy.
Their fervor, and their obsession to see the Sunwell restored saw each singular soldier fight with the ferocity of five men.
Nightsong had guided them well over the last couple of months, and took pride in their instruction.
However, while they could hold off the lesser Dragons flying overhead, they were no match for the father.
Swooping down, Nozdormu halted just above Nightsong. Following in his wake, the six true Dragons of his flight flanked him.
Nightsong glanced at a pair of Dragons in particular. Chromie and Dante. They had been responsible for her first death, and caught her off guard whilst protecting a baby Varrus.
Nightsong nodded to them in greeting.
“Have you come to settle your debts, Nozdormu?”
“Anomaly. Shard of Akatosh. Nightsong of Azeroth. As the Guardian of Time, I shall not allow you to reset this plane, and cover it in darkness.” Nozdormu seriously intoned.
A moment later, an aura spread out from Nozdormu, seemingly freezing time in the local area.
“I am more than the titles you have bestowed upon me. Tid Klo Ul!” Nightsong pulled upon the fabric of reality, and shouted up at them, and shattered the subtle spell Nozdormu had weaved.
The balance of time became porous, like a sieve, and pockets of space around the Sunwell seemed to randomly range between x3 speed, or x0.1 speed.
“As expected from one such as yourself. You would rather shatter time than submit to the proper order of the universe.” Nozdormu condescended.
“Nozdormu, you and your future self have caused every instance of time misuse upon this plane. The ‘proper’ timeline included the deaths of millions, and the prolonged suffering of hundreds of millions. You are a blight upon this realm deserving to die.” Nightsong sternly replied.
She then followed up this statement with an earth shattering shout that shook the heavens, and blasted the six true Dragons flying besides Nozdormu away.
Nozdormu himself was forced to phase himself briefly out of the timeline so as not to take the full brunt of this overwhelming force.
“Fus Ro Dah!”
With one iconic shout, the battle above the Sunwell had begun.
Comments
Jar Jar Bingus
"If we fear for our lives, then the Sunwell will be restored. In every future that this comes to pass, we die." Hmm, I wonder why that happens? Whoooooo would have the motive? They're idiots that brought their future on themselves.
Michael DiVelbiss
I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!!!!! XD XD XD XD XD
Smitty
I tell you I tell you, the dragonborn comes! Thanks author, looking forward to more.
Kasikan
The blood of the dragon bit went with the Septim line. He could just have inherited it from her. Making it another line of emperors / empresses descended from the greatest hero of their people. His mother. That was the premise of Oblivion after all. The last of the line was the only one who could stop it due to the blood of the dragon which turned him into one to fight at the end.
Conor McGroarty
The Bronze Flight really is overstepping if they aren’t safeguarding the past from time travelers but instead are forcefully making things a certain way. Their determined future isn’t even a paradise but a dubious and blurry one where the Black Empire shows up. Just a bunch of crazies.
MadGod
Nah, those are definitely going to Varrus.
Kasikan
If she's the Dragonborn, I really hope she devours all their souls.
