Thrall - Christie Golden [113]
And Thrall realized he had. “The tauren say that the first time evil ever left its mark on them was when they heard and harkened to dark whispers.”
Ysera nodded, looking miserable. “The whispers penetrated even into the Emerald Dream,” she said.
“Even,” Kalecgos said, “into Deathwing’s mind, when he was still Neltharion the Earth-Warder. It is the Old Gods who drove him mad, Thrall. Drove all the black dragons mad.”
“They are old, older even than we,” said Nozdormu. “They were here even before the titansss came, and would have ruined this world had not our creatorsss intervened. A battle sssuch as this world has never seen since raged. They were locked away—hidden in the dark placesss of the earth, drowsing in enchanted slumber.”
“Only with their whispers could they reach us,” said Alexstrasza. “At least … until very recently.” She lifted stricken eyes to Nozdormu. “And you say they are the ones behind everything? Neltharion’s corruption, we know of, and at least one rift in the timeways—but everything? For so many millennia?”
“To what end?” asked Kalecgos.
“Do they need one?” asked Ysera. “Who knows how the Old Gods think, or dream? They are evil, and even in this slumber, that evil seeps out.”
“What is sure is that all those dark events—they caused. Did they do it sssimply because they hate, or because they plot? We may never know. All we need to know is that they happened, and they had terrible consequencesss.”
He looked at them intently. “Think of how each of these things wounded us ssso. They tore us apart. They made us mistrust one another. Recall how quickly we turned on Korialstrasz, when in reality his deed was ssself-sacrificing and heroic. Even you doubted, my dear,” he said gently to Alexstrasza, who lowered her crimson head.
“I think that even my becoming leader of the infinite dragonflight, if it mussst happen, is traceable to them. But today … we learned. We, so old, so ssseemingly wise.” He chuckled slightly. “We discovered that we must work together as one if we are to ssstand firm against what is coming.” He turned to Ysera. “Will we stand otherwise?” he asked very gently.
She shook her head. “No,” she said. “Without the unity we have found—without the unity we must continue to find, again and again and again—we will never be able to stand against the coming Hour of Twilight and—and the vision I saw.”
“I thought this was the Hour,” Thrall said, confused.
She shook her head again. “Of course it wasn’t,” she said tolerantly, as if he were simple. Thrall’s only comfort was that the other dragons assembled seemed to be as confused as he. Ysera was powerful, and benevolent, but she did truly exist slightly apart from other beings.
“You have helped us, as I saw that you would,” the green Aspect continued. “I wasn’t sure how … but you have. The mosaic is no longer simple chips of colored stone. It is taking shape and form now. The visions and dreams I have had—they will manifest. It has taken one who is not one of us to bring us together so. And because we are together … when the true Hour comes … we shall not fail.”
“I came here with a hope for unity among the dragonflights in my heart,” said Alexstrasza. “And after so much pain and loss and struggle … it has happened in a way that I could never have foreseen. My reds will always welcome you, Thrall, son of Durotan and Draka. Take this, as a token of that pledge.” Delicately, using one massive foreclaw, she scratched at her heart. A single small scale fell to the floor, glittering crimson. Thrall picked it up and respectfully put it in his pouch—the same pouch that had once held the acorn of an ancient, and still held the necklace given to him by a young human girl.
“As will my bronzes, friend to the timeways,” said Nozdormu. He, too, gifted Thrall with a precious, gleaming scale.
“The Emerald Dream is not your realm, shaman, but know that, from time to time, I will send