Chương 24: Chapter 23

Everyone in the temple could feel it. A momentous occasion was upon them, and it was almost like the entire city was holding its breath in anticipation. The flow of mana spiraled around the temple, even the endless supply of the Sunwell momentarily falling subordinate to what was happening. Such events were not unknown in Silvermoon. They happened every few centuries, when a magister stepped into the realm of a High Magister, or what some called an Archmage.

Few Quel'dorei even reached the stage, but there usually existed a dozen or so High Magisters at a time. Only, this time it wasn't the power of Arcane that was swirling, but the power of Light. The servants of the Light were all bowed down in prayer, joined by the congregation of believers that stretched to the square between the temple and the royal palace.

Indeed, the entire square was filled with believers praying and waving lit candles, more spilling to the side streets, all come to honor the momentous occasion. Usually, the insides of the temple were filled with candles, but now the sheer mass of bodies made lighting such fires a hazard. Instead, natural light flowed through every door and window, and many of those in prayer had cast a small cantrip to create a magical light above them.

In front of the main shrine, all the gathered power of the Light was circling Selessa, forming into a visible and tangible barrier that had settled around her. The Light was almost too bright to look at directly, only it didn't hurt the believers. Believers who all knew this was a step that would be remembered for a long time. Selessa could feel she was on the cusp of getting over the threshold separating her from many important milestones.

She'd focused most of her time the last few years into strengthening her connection with the Light and meditation, improving her Magic attribute as well. Just like when she'd reached Body 10 and eventually Reflexes 10, she knew crossing the threshold into Magic and Light 10 would take her from the realm of natural into the realm of supernatural.

Thanks to her excessive meditation and communing with the Light, she'd almost accidentally also suffused her body with enough mana to reach Body 11, thus reaching the racial cap of the attribute. Thus, it would also fulfill the last conditions for the Perk concerning her draconic heritage. She just needed a little push. And those praying with her were helping. They had been helping for a few hours now, and she was getting ever closer. It was like watching the last grains of sand fall out of an hourglass.

She idly wondered how it would react with the System. She almost always got the notifications after sleeping, but she could feel the effect this time would not wait. And it was right in the middle of that idle thought that the threshold was crossed. She could feel Light surging inside her, reinforcing her. Flooding her with its secrets. [Your Magic attribute has increased from 9 to 10! Magic perk point gained.] [Your Light skill has increased from 9 to 10! Light perk point gained.] The unexpected didn't stop there though. [You have made a choice, even without officially making a choice. Let's honor that choice then. And true dragons do not hide and skulk in shadows, waiting for the opportune moment. Not dragons of Light.] [You have been granted the perk Draconic Magic: Light.] She felt her magic suddenly surging wildly, the Light inside her becoming thicker, as if every individual mote of Light had grown larger. It also became more compliant.

She could tell Light was now much more free for her to wield, unshackled from rigid skills and spells. [You have been granted the Draconic Heritage. Applying initial changes.] Suddenly her whole body was on fire. The Light wasn't just reinforcing her anymore. It was rebuilding her. In that moment she understood. She wasn't changing, not exactly. She was still Quel'dorei. Or Sin'dorei as the order of warriors was called. She wasn't becoming something else. She was simply becoming more.

The System had mentioned that above level 10, beings started being more than their physical forms. They became conceptual beings, and their very existence was reinforced. Her existence as a Quel'dorei was simply reinforced with the existence of a dragon. Every cell in her body was re-written and added to. A sudden blinding pain at the sides of her head drove off any errant thoughts. Seconds seemed to extend into eternity, and she was once again reminded why such changes happened while asleep.

Or as it happened, System induced coma. In a brief moment of lucidness, she could see concerned looking people rushing towards her, moving in what looked like slow motion. Barely making any progress. The brief moment of lucidity also allowed her to release a scream. Very brief, and so high-pitched that even the elves had trouble hearing it, but it released something inside her. And not just inside her, as all the gathered prayers and Light were suddenly pushed outwards in a burst of energy.

"I need explanations." Anasterian demanded as he and his bodyguards quick-marched through the palace towards where he knew Selessa was being kept.

"What happened?"

"From what I understand, Selessa reached the High Magister equivalent in the Light." Sapphiron stated simply.

"I know that part. Everyone who has spent any time in Silvermoon knows that. It wasn't exactly a secret, what with tens of thousands of people gathering at the temple and outside of it, supporting her. They can't keep a secret to save their lives. That's not the only thing that happened." Anasterian wasn't having any of it.

"Well…" Sapphiron hesitated a bit.

"Just spit it out. I've got reports coming from all over anyway, and I'd like to know what I'm dealing with." Anasterian was using his no-nonsense voice, which he needed to bring out rather rarely these days.

"The first thing is that the gathered Light was released as a blessing to everyone. That explains the deluge of reports." Sapphiron replied, almost running to keep up with Anasterian's walk as they reached the sectioned off portion of the palace. While the temple was the pre-eminent place for healing, it was also filled with concerned civilians at the moment, so Selessa had been moved.

"Define everyone." Anasterian demanded.

"Every Quel'dorei. Even in Kalimdor, Highlands of the Dawn, and even our new outpost in Northrend." Sapphiron supplied the information.

"At least as far as I was able to confirm."

"By the Sunwell. What kind of blessing?" Anasterian demanded.

"And was that why the Sunwell very briefly seemed to wane in effect?"

"The exact nature of the blessing is still unknown, but yes, the Sunwell and the Starwells very briefly expended their stored power to make the blessing happen. That's a heck of a lot of power, so I assume it's not something minor." Sapphiron answered what he could, but he hadn't had too much time himself to figure things out. They simultaneously barged into the room Selessa had been moved to, and they could see her lying on the bed, surrounded by several healers and paladins.

A single glance was enough for Anasterian to turn to Sapphiron.

"I get the distinct impression you haven't told me everything." Sapphiron swallowed nervously.

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the two golden horns on her head!" Anasterian exclaimed with an annoyed tone. Indeed, an elegant pair of golden horns jutted out at the sides of Selessa's head, almost directly pointing upwards. They were located just above her ears, and they were rather slim in nature. They arched forward very slightly, and had short thin spikes jutting out along the length, almost like thorns on a rose. They weren't quite antlers, nor were they exactly draconic in looks either.

Nor were they demonic either. And they looked almost like they were made of solid gold, except they seemed to glow with a faint internal power. Sapphiron cleared his throat.

"She might have also awakened her draconic heritage."

"Uh-huh. Draconic heritage, is it? See, I know her mother isn't a dragon, being that Selenna is my sister, to my eternal annoyance. That doesn't leave too many options, now does it? Are you telling me my Grand Magister isn't actually a Quel'dorei?" Anasterian asked quietly.

"That…might be the case." Sapphiron admitted feeling the pressure of Anasterian's look and presence.

"Good. You finally admitted it." Anasterian replied, suddenly looking pleased, all pressure gone.

"What?" Sapphiron looked a bit stunned.

"You didn't think we hadn't noticed? Please. My wife informed me years ago, and Selessa told me even before that. You really don't understand her if you think she would've kept it a secret." Anasterian explained with a wry smirk.

"Now, what's this about draconic heritage awakening?"

"Horns." Sapphiron simply pointed at the obvious.

"I saw them, thank you very much." Anasterian retorted returning to his annoyed tone.

"A little bit more detail, please."

"Well, I've speculated ever since she was a kid that she might be able to awaken her draconic heritage someday. She confirmed that it should be possible if certain conditions were met. Apparently they've been met. I'd love to tell you more, but I haven't the foggiest." Sapphiron shrugged.

"Well, a lot of bloody good you are." Anasterian cursed.

"What's the usual deal?" Sapphiron shook his head.

"There is no usual deal. This is the first time it has happened."

"Why doesn't it surprise me in the slightest that she has once again done something impossible." Anasterian rubbed his face in a combination of fondness and frustration.

"I'll need to make an announcement. Otherwise, the worried people outside are going to storm the palace. It would be very endearing, but highly annoying."

"She should be fine. No idea when she wakes though." Sapphiron added.

"Marvellous. I'll try to stop us all from getting lynched." Anasterian shook his head while gazing towards his sleeping niece.

Selessa groggily blinked her eyes open. She wasn't in pain exactly. It was more like remembering the ghost of a pain. There was some discomfort around her head. She could tell why. She didn't need to see to know the horns were there. She could feel them like she could feel a finger, or her ear. When they were not actively touching anything, she barely noticed them. Except, they were new and thus very obvious. And that was the source of discomfort. [Congratulations! Your change has been completed. Your attribute limits have been improved.] She checked, and found the System was correct. Her Body and Reflexes could now go up to 15, while her Magic could now go up to 16. Incidentally, her maximum for Charisma had also risen by one to 18. [On that note.] [Congratulations! You've achieved a feat of Charisma! Your Charisma attribute has increased from 17 to 18! Charisma perk point gained.] [In case you were wondering, granting your entire race a semi-permanent blessing qualifies as the sort of religious Feat that can improve your Charisma.] Semi-permanent blessing? What the heck happened? [You're going to have to find out yourself. I'd start paying attention, by the way.]"I know you're awake." A familiar male voice roused her from her distracted state. She looked towards the voice and noticed Anasterian and Sister Ophelia sitting by her bed.

"Yes, yes. Just coming to grips with what happened." She responded curtly.

"So, what did happen?" Anasterian asked.

"A lot that I'm not aware about apparently, but an awakening of draconic blood at least." She probably had more questions than he had.

"Yes, the horns were a bit of a giveaway. Your father finally came clean as well. Incidentally, there are some others with horns in their elvenoid forms. The Arch-Druid of the Kaldorei, the Dragon Queen Alexstrasza, the Demigod Cenarius, a few others." Anasterian shot back.

"I'm in illustrious company then. I wonder if I can hide them when necessary?" She said the last bit mostly to herself.

"Well, something to ponder on in the future. Were the people in the temple panicked when I went unconscious?"

"At first." Sister Ophelia interjected.

"They were more worried than panicked. King Anasterian managed to calm them down by telling them you were fine but unconscious. They have faith in you, so they're mostly staying in front of the palace, praying."

"I should probably go out there to thank them and calm them down." Selessa muttered, while slowly sitting up, feeling a little odd. With her existence reinforced with that of a dragon, she realized she was not the same as before. Stronger and more durable was just scratching the surface. She realized that had she fought against Cenarius when they met, she likely wouldn't have been able to even hurt the demigod.

She was only slowly coming to understand the importance of the concept of the power of existence in this world. Something might look fragile, and physically be fragile, but at the same time be indestructible due to the power of their existence. She'd been taking the first steps on that path, while others had traveled much further along. She wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the concept, as the daemons of her previous world had enjoyed similar traits. Interestingly, so had certain artifacts. Something to think about.

"That might be a good idea, though you might want to come up with an explanation for the blessing?" Anasterian suggested.

"Blessing?" She asked, realizing he likely meant the same thing the System had mentioned.

"Yes. It would seem you somehow blessed our entire race." Anasterian clarified.

"Well, I have no memory of doing any such thing, so…" She shrugged. How was she supposed to figure this out? The only method she had was to try and read the magic itself, but Light didn't come up with such convenient and precise magic formulae as Arcane.

"We may have to figure the effect out through experience." Their discussion was interrupted by a commotion outside the room. Anasterian frowned at the disturbance. He'd given orders not to be disturbed, and the same general orders were in effect even when he wasn't here. They hadn't wanted anyone to bother Selessa while she was recovering. Eventually there was a knock at the door, and one of Anasterian's bodyguards looked inside.

"I'm sorry your majesty, but the Grand Magister insists he needs to speak with both of you."

"Let him in." Anasterian waved at the guard. He wasn't really worried about Selessa's father, considering he'd been treating Selessa earlier. The only reason he'd been kept out this time was because Anasterian had ordered everyone to be kept out. Sister Ophelia was here mostly to make absolutely sure Anasterian didn't try anything, which was a rather telling detail about her loyalties. And because the healers refused to leave the Saint completely unattended.

Sapphiron looked like a mix of concerned and relieved at seeing Selessa awake.

"Oh, great, you're back with us. We have a bit of a situation." Selessa groaned. One thing after another.

"What is it?"

"The Aspects want to see you. Not just one Aspect, mind you. Three of them, and a representative of the Blues as well. And yes, it's about what happened." He revealed leaning against the thick wooden door, while glancing warily at Sister Ophelia, who was eyeing him in a rather hostile manner.

"I'm not horribly surprised they'd be interested in meeting, but how are they so well informed about my condition?" Selessa asked, looking at her father sternly.

"You're right to be suspicious." He admitted.

"I told them." Sister Ophelia pulled out her sword and moved decisively towards Sapphiron, placing her blade on his throat. It wasn't entirely clear if he'd simply allowed it, or if she'd moved faster than he could react.

"Just say the word." Ophelia declared with a voice filled with conviction. Selessa didn't answer right away, letting her father sweat a bit. Sapphiron spoke before she could.

"I respect your wish to remain loyal to only Quel'thalas, but you need to respect the fact that I have my loyalties as well, and they are first to the Blue Dragonflight. It is in our blood. Our very existence. Very few dragons have ever turned traitor to their flight without heavy outside corruption. Even most of those that have, thought they were doing it to better serve the flight."

"Let him go." Selessa finally decided. Ophelia did, but not before punching Sapphiron in the stomach.

"Guh! I suppose I deserved that." Sapphiron grunted while doubled over, though Selessa could tell he was exaggerating a bit.

"You really did." Anasterian commented.

"You couldn't even wait until she was at her best." His disapproval was clear in his voice. His expression also told that this act had damaged the trust between them more than Sapphiron pretending to be a Quel'dorei for centuries, and taking over the position of Grand Magister.

"When and where?" She asked. It wasn't like she could refuse an invitation from three Dragon Lords. Or she could, theoretically, but she wasn't prepared to deal with the fallout.

"Wyrmrest Temple. At your earliest convenience. They know you are convalescing, so they aren't rushing you, but they do have their own duties and can't wait long either."

"Better not keep them waiting too long." Selessa muttered and slowly rose to her feet and started stretching, testing out what had changed. The short answer was everything, though on some instinctive level the change was already under control, as the change wasn't exactly physical.

"Wyrmrest Temple." Sapphiron stated proudly, pointing at the enormous spire jutting out from the snowy lands of Dragonblight in the northern continent of Northrend. The building was relatively impressive by the standards of this world. It was hundreds of meters tall. Tier after tier of white columns and golden domes in a very ancient style. Everything was sized for dragons, or something similarly large.

Icicles longer than three stories hung from many ledges, and a great chasm of ice allowed access to underground levels mostly hidden from Selessa's current vantage point. The land around the temple was mostly frozen tundra with the occasional mountain dotting the landscape. Bones of large dragons could be seen in many places, and one particularly large skeleton was visible even several kilometers away.

"So how are we getting up there?" She asked, not bothering with other inquiries.

"I'll fly us." Sapphiron stated simply, and suddenly his form expanded greatly. In this form, he was one of the larger dragons she had seen, easily a hundred meters from tip to tail. There seemed to be a ridged fin running under his belly from snout to tail, covering most of his underside. Wordlessly, Selessa jumped on top of his back, settling between his wings.

Such leaps were no longer a challenge for her, nor the most powerful of the Sin'dorei, though it did seem even easier than it had been before her recent change. The flight to the temple only took a couple minutes, and there were dozens of other dragons lazing around the temple, occupying the different tiers. At the top was a single open chamber, which consisted of a golden dome held aloft by a dozen thick columns. In the chamber, four elvenoid figures waited.

She'd seen one before, during the massacre of Zul'Mashar. The Red Dragon that had asked for the troll refugees to be spared. Even though she was no longer in the same form, not exactly, she was still instantly recognizable. Now she was much more impressive, with a large pair of horns of her own jutting out at the sides of her head. Her affiliation was clear by the fiery red hair.

Another dragon had taken the form of the Kaldorei, her clothes and hair coloring rather suggestively green, and she also had a pair of horns, though hers were thinner and white, resembling those of a bull or maybe a yeti, whereas the previous dragon's horns had been rather distinctly draconic.

Selessa got a rather ethereal impression from this dragon, almost as if she wasn't entirely present, shifting between a fully present and partially absent state, and her eyes were closed the entire time, yet she could still easily track their arrival. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The third one was the sole male of the group. He was in the form of a Quel'dorei, with long brownish-bronze hair.

He was also not wearing a shirt, though he did wear a pauldron depicting a bronze dragon on one shoulder. At least they weren't making it hard to identify the different dragons. The last one had by far the weakest presence, only somewhat stronger than that of Sapphiron. She surprisingly looked like a pale skinned and dark-haired Mon'keigh dressed in all blue. Not even a very attractive or graceful Mon'keigh either. Odd choice for appearance, though she supposed not every dragon had to be vain.

As she dismounted Sapphiron, she noticed her father taking off and flying further away from the temple.

'Way to go dad, abandoning me to my fate.' She thought sarcastically to herself.

"Be not concerned child of Sapphiron. You are not in danger." The one she'd identified as the Dragon Queen Alexstrasza spoke.

'Not the form of address I would've chosen.' She thought bitterly. Clearly the Dragon Queen wanted to set the pace despite her words. She'd have to answer in kind to not get trodden on.

"Alexstrasza, I presume." She looked towards the Dragon Queen, before moving on.

"Ysera of the Green Dragonflight, judging by attire." She turned towards the sole male.

"Which would make you Nozdormu, I presume." She turned towards the last one.

"You I cannot place. I'm fairly certain you are not Malygos or the Earth Warder however."

"Lord Malygos to you whelp!" The last one growled out, the representative of the Blues, revealing she was the weak link in the group. So much for not being vain.

"Not to me, especially when the queen decides formalities are overrated, and while I might be young, age only matters if you accomplish something with those years." The unspoken accusation was sharp in the air, and there was no need to voice it. What had she accomplished in these thousands of years?

"Saragosa, peace." Nozdormu put a stop to the sharp retort by the representative of the Blue Dragonflight.

"The rebuke wasn't unearned." Alexstrasza admitted, inclining her head slightly.

"Addressing you as a child was not meant as a slight, merely a habit, but it was uncalled for."

"It is also a rather stark difference from the last time we met, Queen of the Dragons." Selessa pointed out.

"Quite, Autarch." The Dragon Queen allowed. She had grown accustomed to treating the young dragons a certain way, and had instinctively ascribed Selessa into the same category. Yet, she was not. Selessa was effectively the second head of state of the most powerful mortal nation in the world. A mortal nation that might have more power at its fingertips than any single one of the Dragonflights in a couple thousand years. Perhaps even sooner.

"Your recent changes have…caused some questions."

"I'm not sure how many answers I have that you do not already possess. I had some draconic blood, it manifested in a slightly unexpected manner, and here we are. I haven't really had time to explore all the ramifications yet." Selessa wasn't going to spill everything that easily.

"Yet, it wasn't entirely unexpected, was it?" Nozdormu interjected.

"Your father mentioned that you had some foreknowledge this would happen. That you had to fulfill some conditions? As far as I know, foretelling the future should be impossible now."

"That's clearly untrue." Selessa denied right away, without hesitation.

"The troll witch doctors can still get omens of the future. I can sense that were I to cast the runes, I would still get answers, albeit in a very limited fashion. Maybe you're doing it wrong? You're trying to read fates and entire timelines, where it only works with narrower focus?" She suggested.

"That's…not entirely without merit. I need to explore this further." Nozdormu muttered. The Bronze were quite used to their way of doing things, so they hadn't even considered the feasibility of the 'cruder' methods of mortal races like the trolls.

"My earlier point stands, however."

"I can't see the future, but you could say I have some limited insight to my own development. I can see the paths I could take, and the likely results. Half of it is informed guesswork, which seems to have been correct." She shrugged.

"You are not one of the Blues. Your essence shines bright." Ysera suddenly stated, the dragon's closed eyes staring right through her.

"Aspect of War, and now a Blade of the Light. A small blade yet, but a growing one. Golden Dragonflight." The green dragon stated with conviction, and then just turned around and left, vanishing mid-step. Selessa looked at the others who didn't seem to fully understand either, although they seemed less surprised.

"So, anyone want to elaborate on what just happened." Nozdormu chuckled a bit.

"Our sister has always been a bit mysterious when she's in one of those moods. She also tends to be rather insightful. If she's of the opinion that you are part of a new Dragonflight, then I'm inclined to take her word for it."

"Not much of a flight with a single dragon, if that." Selessa muttered.

"Oh, I could assist you there." Alexstrasza seemed to brighten at the idea.

"I could lend you one of my consorts. Us reds are good at producing large clutches of eggs, even diminished as we are." Guardian of Life indeed.

"I think I'll pass. I'm not in the market at the moment." Selessa turned the suggestion down firmly.

"Right. That aside, her other title for you, Mistress of War, is part of why you're actually here." Nozdormu took the reins of the conversation once again.

"You are turning the Quel'dorei into a military power, and now that you're one of us, even if in limited fashion, it behooves us both to share some information about the hidden dangers. We were considering doing it anyway, but recent changes have made the decision easy." Alexstrasza grew serious as well.

"Exactly. Specifically, knowledge of two primary threats. The Burning Legion, and the Old Gods."

"I'm somewhat familiar with the Legion, having read the histories. Big invasion, Well of Eternity, Queen Azshara, that sort of thing." Selessa summarized.

"it's a bit more complicated than that. The Legion is led by one of the Titans who created our world, among many others. Sargeras. He was the best of the Titans, until he fell and became the leader of the Legion instead. The demons can't access our world directly. Not at the moment. Although there are always fools willing to invite them in exchange for more power. And Arcane magic also draws them in." Alexstrasza explained.

"I'll have to give you credit in that regard. The Quel'dorei have been remarkably careful in hiding your use of the Arcane, and believe me, we have kept an eye on you." Saragosa interjected, her voice grudging.

"Despite having now several fonts of power, you've managed to cover your activities from the Legion and most of the world, for now. Sapphiron has kept us updated, and your work to hunt down and eliminate those that would misuse magic or utilize the Fel or the Void is praiseworthy." Clearly the Blue didn't like complimenting her, but she was honest enough to do so where necessary.

"That said, we have to stay vigilant, and even so, it's only a matter of time before someone slips."

"Each Aspect has been empowered by one of the Titans, which is part of what makes us special. We are the guardians of this world against such dangers, but unfortunately we were betrayed. By one of our own. Neltharion, or Deathwing as he calls himself now. The leader of the Black Dragonflight. He fell to the Void. He stole part of our power to forge an artifact of terrible power, which left all of us weaker than we should be. Diminished." Nozdormu continued.

"The Void is the second great threat. The Void Lords cannot enter our reality themselves, so they sent out parasitic beings known as the Old Gods to infect our world instead. These Old Gods used to rule this world until they were banished by the Titans, imprisoned in facilities around the world. Four remain, and we do not have the power to kill them. Nor do we want to breach their prisons. But their influence seeps out, and their servants aren't all gone." Alexstrasza joined in.

"One is imprisoned here in Northrend, and we are keeping an eye on that facility. One is imprisoned somewhere south. One in Zandalar, guarded and unfortunately worshipped by some of the trolls. The last one's whereabouts are unknown."

"That's not at all concerning." Selessa pointed out.

"And I hope everyone here realizes that imprisonment is only a temporary solution."

"It is, but the Titans were unable to kill the Old Gods before. Or to be precise, they did kill one, and in the process wounded the entire world." Nozdormu revealed.

"That said…I'm probably not the only one that has some new hope with the sudden appearance of a Golden Dragonflight specializing in Light, which opposes the Void. It would stand to reason you might figure out a way to kill them for good. So, your flight might be low in numbers, but not in purpose or importance." Selessa paid attention to something else instead.

"Wait just a moment. You said wounded the planet in the process. This wouldn't happen to be the origin of the Well of Eternity by any chance?" Nozdormu looked at her in shock.

"That's surprisingly perceptive of you. How did you realize?"

"Well, some years ago when we created the Starwells, the topic came up. We speculated that the essence and intent in the Sunwell came from the blood of some higher tier of being, and it coming from the planet itself makes a certain amount of sense. We had speculated something akin to the Naaru or the Titans bled into the Well of Eternity." Selessa shrugged.

"The pieces just fit when you mentioned the planet being wounded."

"This isn't widely known, but you are correct." Nozdormu admitted.

"I have so many questions…" Selessa muttered to the amusement of the dragons present.

"Have you successfully turned into a dragon yet?" Alexstrasza prompted suddenly.

"I have not. I can feel it right there, but there's something in the way. Something preventing me. It's like I'm 99, 9% of the way there, but can't cross that last 0, 1%. Not that I've had much time to try." Selessa revealed. Alexstrasza smiled suddenly.

"I think I know what's missing. Your father speculated something along the lines some years back. He told you we have a ceremony called the Visage Day. The ceremony isn't just for pomp. It is traditional we give a proclamation when we first change. The proclamation crystallizes why we take the form we do. It solidifies our purpose, and in some way defines our new form. It's not just about how we want others to see us, but how we see ourselves. Your father speculated that you're having a Visage Day but in reverse.

Perhaps you'll need to make a proclamation of your own. What do you want your draconic form to be? We often also pick our mortal names at the same time."

"That's a bit profound to suddenly spring on me like that." Selessa muttered in response, but felt the dragon queen was right. She closed her eyes and looked within. Despite everything, she found the answers rather easily.

"At first, awakening my draconic heritage was just another path to reach for more power." She stated simply.

"The interesting question is, why? Why do I grasp for power? To protect my people, to bring Light to the dark places of the world, to banish the Shadows and Void that hide there, to smite down those that would threaten me and mine, to stand against those that would bring ruin to the world, and to cleanse the ruinous powers that would gnaw at the foundation of that which I hold sacrosanct. I am the hand of salvation, the protective bulwark, and the avenging blade. I am war made manifest. May my form reflect thus!"

A bit pompous for her tastes but something like this needed to be. A bright light surrounded her, bright enough to cause even the dragons to shield their eyes. By the time the light cleared, a golden dragon stood in her place. Her size was only that of a recently matured dragon, but her current form rippled with power and hinted at barely held back aggression.

Her form was long and sleek, thinner than most dragons of this world, her entire form covered in glowing golden scales that looked a lot more solid than most other dragons. Besides the two horns she now had in her normal form there were no other horns or spikes along her back or belly. Instead, what she did have was wicked looking claws on her four feet and a spike on her tail. All seemingly made of solidified Light energy, the energy ebbing and flowing like waves inside what looked like metal claws.

Even the Aspects were slightly wary of those claws, though the danger they presented was very minor for now.

"Well, then. I should test things out." Her voice had not changed. The newly formed dragon gave a very slight nod and fell back off the edge of the temple, before darting off with speed that would be nigh impossible to match by even the fastest of their kind.

"That was interesting. She really did become the first of a new Dragonflight." Alexstrasza commented.

"And stop ogling Nozdormu." The male Aspect had clearly found the new dragon rather fetching.

"She's no Aspect. She does not have the blessing of a Titan." Saragosa interjected, not willing to concede the point.

"No, but she has power. And experience. Do not bother claiming you didn't feel it right after looking into her eyes. Whatever she might look like now, she's not much younger than we are." Nozdormu countered, getting a reluctant nod from the Blue.

"Where that power and experience come from, I do not know, but her blessing might not be any less than ours. It is only a matter of time until she is counted among our number."

"Ysera suggested that she was brought here by some higher power. Maybe the Naaru. In the Dream, her presence is not that of a young elven girl, but the embodiment of war. The moniker Mistress of War was not chosen at random. I have not seen it but trust her judgement when she says nothing in the Dream dares approach her. Cenarius tried and almost lost his head. And we know he is not someone to be taken lightly, especially in that realm." Alexstrasza closed her eyes.

"I can still feel her metaphysical presence. She might not have the power now, but eventually she might match Sargeras and the Legion. Alone if she has to."

"And she is not someone who takes disrespect lightly." Nozdormu chuckled.

"Is that not dangerous?" Saragosa asked.

"Even if we can direct her against the Void and the Legion, she holds no allegiance to us. What's to stop her from turning her claws against us when she does have the power to do so?"

"She is not a destroyer like Neltharion. She might not be as loving of all life as I might wish, but she was forged in war. She clearly has had to deal with realities none of us can even imagine. She is the Mistress of War, but she is not a mindless machine of wanton and indiscriminate destruction. She will not submit but she can be reasoned with. If we are proper allies to her and those under her, then she will return the courtesy." Alexstrasza judged.

"The risk is there, but the potential benefit is simply too much to ignore. Let us inform her of any pockets of Void we find, and I suspect she will be more than happy to deal with them for us."

Flying wasn't a new concept to Selessa. She'd flown everything from a fighter to an entire craftworld, many of them much faster than her current speed, impressive though it might be. She'd also flown under the effect of her psyker powers, though rarely for long. That said, flying as a dragon, under her own effort, even if magically supported, was a different kind of experience. And she'd always enjoyed flying. It was very freeing. And she was flying quite fast indeed.

It seemed flight speed was one of the strengths of being a dragon infused with the Light. The perk Unbreaking Stride also seemed to affect her already significant speed, especially if she flew in a straight line. As a side effect, she also didn't seem to grow tired. She flew for less than an hour and already she could see the edge of the Dragonblight, where the snowy lands turned into coniferous forest, trees taller than most other forests she'd seen, even in her past life.

Some instinct inside her urged her to test another one of her new abilities. She drew a deep breath and then exhaled towards a pile of crystallized ice, sending some sort of beam of golden energy spearing right through the formation.

"Huh." She muttered to herself, not sure what to think. Moments later, the form of a large Blue Dragon landed nearby.

"You're damn fast for such a young dragon." Sapphiron panted, clearly out of breath, having struggled to keep up.

"Luckily you're not exactly stealthy, so you're easy to follow."

"Father," she replied simply.

"It seems speed is one of my strengths in this form."

"I noticed." Sapphiron exhaled, his form at least twice hers in every measurement.

"It's going to be interesting to figure out all the other nuances as well. I might not have been very open with the details, but the different flights are rather different in certain regards." Selessa looked at the new hole in the ice formation.

"Yes, I gathered. I don't think the others breathe Light." Sapphiron chuckled, finally catching his breath.

"No. Reds breathe fire, though different types. Theirs can be destructive, but also cleansing and life-giving. Us blues usually breathe frost or focused Arcane energy, so that's similar to yours. Greens often do acid, poison, or corrosive gases. Bronze breathe lightning or pure temporal energy. That one's weird. Blacks used to breathe magma, but after their corruption, their breath is mixed with Shadow energy."

"I'm fairly sure mine has some kind of healing of cleansing effects as well, though that's just an instinct I have. From a quick assessment, mine is more focused than most dragons likely have. It doesn't cover a large area, at least as it is, but carries quite a lot of punch." She used a claw to gesture at the hole. Sapphiron nodded.

"That's a single test out of a million, but it does seem to suggest as much. Did you put your all into it?"

"No? I don't think so. Hard to judge. I'm pretty sure I can put a lot more effort into it with some practice." She was genuinely uncertain. This was completely new territory for her.

"Yeah, it takes some getting used to, even for those that are born with the instincts. Assuming that wasn't your full effort, then I'd say you're right. Your breath is more focused on penetrative power, and as I mentioned, you're a rather young dragon. Anyway, the Blacks and Reds tend to be physically stronger and larger, while us and Bronze are smaller but magically more capable. Greens have a whole other thing going on, as they're asleep half the time anyway.

Your size is impossible to evaluate until you grow older." He explained.

"As the guardians of life, Reds are also the most numerous. Helps that the Dragon Queen herself takes such an active effort in increasing their numbers."

"And you Blues are the opposite." Selessa added for him causing him to flinch a bit.

"Yes, though not entirely by choice. We lost most of our members, and unfortunately our Aspect is not actively participating in the world. A shame since he was always the most intelligent out of all of us, and not just the Blues." Sapphiron shook his head sadly.

"Why were you in such a hurry to catch me by the way?" She suddenly asked.

"I'm still your way home, unless you want to fly the whole way?" He stated the obvious.

"Even with your speed it's going to take quite long." He was right. She did not have the familiarity with Northrend and the ley lines to teleport home, although they were not very far from the outpost the Quel'dorei had created, which did hold a portal to Silvermoon. The outpost was located on the southern coast where the forested area they'd named Grizzly Hills had their rivers let out into the sea.

"I suppose it would be faster for you to teleport us." She conceded.

"Let's go. Your uncle is going to be worried, and your paladin subordinate might kill me if I don't return you in one piece." He gave an exaggerated shiver. Not that Ophelia could kill him realistically.

"I suppose it would be better to keep the whole dragon thing mostly under wraps for now…" She muttered, although she knew that couldn't last.

Selessa was making her way towards the training grounds of the Sin'dorei when an emergency message reached her.

"Selessa! We're under attack! We need help right now!" Nallorath's voice echoed in her mind. She pulled out a communications talisman of her own, with a very specific target.

"Emergency deployment Alpha! Kalimdor base!" Knowing her voice had echoed inside a building where they constantly had a unit of Sin'dorei and magisters ready for such emergencies. She also knew the word would be spread and additional units prepared thanks to her use of the code word Alpha, which meant unknown number of hostiles and potential full mobilization.

She strapped on her helmet, Aeldari style fitted to accommodate her horns, and pulled on her gauntlets before a glowing magical circle appeared around her, the four paladins accompanying her stepping inside the circle with their shields raised to cover her. The world flashed around them, and they were all yanked through space before they landed within the outpost in Kalimdor. A single glance around her told a lot.

The palisade around the outpost still mostly stood, but it was breached in several places, with large treants pushing their way through the gaps. Warrior women wearing huge dark capes and using odd circular weapons that seemed wholly impractical were darting among the treants. She identified the women as Kaldorei despite their rather obscuring clothing and heavy helmets. The Sin'dorei present at the outpost were mostly managing to hold the gaps, while several others fired at something outside the palisade.

Couple of the buildings had apparently been clipped by some magical spells, as they had lost pieces but not collapsed. The portal building still stood, though the barrier holding it safe seemed to be getting weaker. Reinforcements were already coming through the portal. She also saw bodies on the ground. Workers of the embassy, as well as some Sin'dorei. She could see many destroyed treants and bodies of the weird cloaked Kaldorei women as well.

A couple magisters, including Nallorath were throwing spells at the larger treants, though their magic seemed oddly subdued, and she could feel some sort of suppression on her Arcane abilities. The Spellbreakers were successfully defeating many of the treants by ripping the magic sustaining them out, but clearly the treants had been summoned by someone powerful, as the magic inside the creatures resisted the efforts of the Spellbreakers rather intensely.

"See to the fallen. Check if some can still be saved." She ordered the paladins around her, at the same time as the full emergency deployment started arriving. Hundreds and hundreds of Sin'dorei suddenly arriving inside the outpost via teleportation, surging into action right away. They had trained for events like this.

Another glance allowed her to note a much larger tree-creature, one of the ancients often aiding the Kaldorei, fighting Thalorien near the fallen gates, and it seemed to fight was a stalemate so far. She also noted the being seemingly leading this attack on a hill outside, overlooking the outpost. The being looked a lot like Cenarius, a Kaldorei torso on top of the body of some sort of deer or stag.

White hot rage flooded her veins, something she idly noted coming partly from her connection with the Light and those under her command needing to be avenged, and some seemed to be a result of her newly awakened draconic heritage feeling affronted, as she witnessed what was happening, going directly against her recently made declaration. The first ever Sin'dorei to fall in battle, and they were killed by the Kaldorei! Their supposed cousins!

She summoned a golden spear made of pure Light, throwing it at the ancient fighting Thalorien, the projectile traveled with enormous force and speed thanks to all the combined strength she could muster, piercing the creature's torso, and exploding inside, crippling the tree-creature. The attack wasn't enough to kill it, but it would be enough to tilt things in Thalorien's favor. Summoning the spear and launching it had been almost effortless, clearly showing the new power of her existence.

Next she summoned another spear and she used another Light-granted ability, something she could only use to avenge those she considered hers. A pair of golden wings of Avenging Wrath appeared on her back as she leapt over the battlefield, coming down towards the being commanding the enemy forces like a golden meteor.

She combined several perks, Blade of the Rising Sun and Fury of the Chosen, with the Avenging Wrath to deliver an earth-shattering blow to the creature, cleaving it down from shoulder all the way through its body, causing the creature to collapse on the ground. Yet it clung to life despite the devastating blow. This was also a being whose existence had been reinforced, though not very strongly. It was much weaker than the dragons, or Cenarius.

It was also weaker than the leader of the Kaldorei, Tyrande, though Selessa wasn't sure if the woman herself understood that fact. Still, it was enough to survive a blow that would've shattered most mortals. The creature laying on the ground grinned maliciously with a bloodied mouth.

"My father will -cough- avenge me, and my work will be complete."

"He'll be welcome to try." Selessa stated coldly, before severing the being's head with another swing of her weapon. She grabbed the severed head, intent on carrying it back, while observing the rest of the battle. With every Kaldorei who died, the suppression on the Arcane seemed to wane, making it clear that these women were something like the Kaldorei equivalent of Spellbreakers, even if their methods were different. Instead of countering spells directly, their very presence affected the Arcane.

The constant inflow of reinforcements and the return of their powers caused the tide to quickly turn, and spellfire was a very effective way to deal with treants. They were very flammable after all, especially with their summoner dead.

"Capture anyone you can for questioning!" She ordered, her voice carrying over the battlefield.

"Paladins see to the wounded. Warriors, sever the heads of every enemy and mount them on pikes on the road leading towards Ashenvale. Rangers, find out if there are more on the way. Magisters, reinforce the walls and repair the damage. Bring our dead to a quiet place." She tossed the severed head to a passing warrior, who gave a grim nod in return.

"What of this one?" Thalorien pointed his sword at the now dead ancient.

"Keep that one for now. The head is too big for a spike. Maybe we can utilize the wood. It's bound to be heavily magical." She decided after a moment of consideration.

"I'll be trying something new. Make sure I'm not disturbed." She walked towards where the dead were being moved.

"Aye, Autarch!" Thalorien acknowledged, recognizing her shift into a war leader instead of a religious one. There were fifteen bodies gathered in the quiet and undamaged part of the outpost. Twelve Sin'dorei, and three servants. The Sin'dorei were more battered, having fallen in battle, while the servants had signs of spell damage. She also recognized one of the servants as Nallorath's mother. No wonder he'd been so frantic in his call for help.

"Might as well try with her." She muttered while moving over the body. She'd been progressively getting closer to being able to bring back the dead. The Light and the System never directly told her how to do it, but as her skill progressed, she got more and more obvious hints. The souls of the departed mostly lingered for a while. Re-connecting them with the body wasn't simple, but Light didn't really do complicated.

What it required was conviction, intent, and enough power of the Light to accomplish what you wanted. You needed to believe you could do it. And who else to have faith in coming back to life than someone who'd done it herself and seen it happen in the past? Of course, re-connecting the soul with the body wasn't the entire issue. The person being brought back had died for a reason. The cause of that death needed to be fixed at the same time, otherwise they'd only die again right away.

Some things could not be fixed, such as old age. However, a caved sternum and internal bleeding was surprisingly easy to deal with. Severed head would've been much harder, while brain damage was really challenging and really easy at the same time. Depended on how much effort you wanted to put into it, and correspondingly, the amount of power required differed.

She shone like a beacon as she channeled more Light than she had since killing Nalorakk, and the process took a minute, as she had to fumble her way through the process. However, eventually the woman, Nallorath's mother, drew a ragged breath, suddenly sitting up in distress, and rolling off the bed in near panic.

"What? What! I-I was…I was dead! I'm sure I died!" She exclaimed, drawing the attention of even those standing nearby that hadn't already noticed. The paladins had of course sensed the whole thing and were now reverently kneeling in prayer all over the compound.

"So you were. Now you are not." Selessa said with a gentle tone.

"Light can perform plenty of miracles. Let's see if this one can be repeated." [Congratulations! You have achieved a Feat of Light! Light and Magic skills increased by one!] Ok, well it seemed the upside of the feats was that she didn't necessarily have to take a long time between improvements, assuming she could achieve the feats in quick succession. She could feel the difference right away as well. The step from both Magic and Light 10 to 11, was larger than from 8 to 10.

It felt like all her magic would be much easier to cast now, and not just Light.

"We are late." Shandris exclaimed, riding next to Tyrande and pointing at the smoke over the treetops ahead.

"Yes. We are." Tyrande replied with a severe tone. As they crossed the bridge to Azshara they started to realize just how late they were. The Quel'dorei warriors in red were in the process of mounting the heads of several Watchers on pikes, clearly as a message, and a large portion of the forest surrounding the outpost was just gone. The reason was obvious as the charred and mangled remains of several treants were scattered around the area.

It took a powerful druid to rouse the forest into battle like this, but the fury of the forest when commanded was mighty indeed.

"By the Goddess!" Shandris exclaimed and drew a sharp breath, pointing at the antlered head of one of the Keepers of the Grove, on one of the pikes. That certainly explained the treants, even if not the why. The offspring of Cenarius were among the most powerful protectors of the woodlands, and the best users of druidic magic.

"May Elune grant him shelter in her realm." Tyrande whispered quietly. She didn't have much time for prayers though, as the Quel'dorei were clearly not taking their arrival well, their forces forming up and pulling out weapons in preparation for further battle.

"Be at peace." Tyrande called out.

"We are not here to do battle. We were hoping to prevent it, but it seems we arrived too late."

"That's a bit of an understatement." A golden-haired male warrior who seemed to be leading the soldiers almost growled.

"Excuse us if we aren't feeling very welcoming or trusting at the moment."

"I understand." Tyrande nodded, while maintaining outwards calm. This was going to be a shitshow.

"I would speak with the emissary."

"She's a little busy cleaning up this mess your kin caused." The golden-haired man retorted. The words 'your kin' hit harder than it should have.

"She left clear instructions not to be disturbed, and judging by what we've been feeling, she's still busy." Now that he mentioned it, Tyrande could feel someone gathering and wielding great amounts of power nearby. Apparently some of the wards hiding the magical activity of the outpost had been broken, because the soldiers were certainly not letting them close enough to be within those wards.

"Nevertheless, I must ask. We might be able to prevent further bloodshed if we act swiftly." Tyrande insisted. The way they'd mounted the head of one of Cenarius' kin was certain to cause issues, and she knew the leader of the Watchers would be demanding blood if she saw the heads of her subordinates displayed like this. She wasn't personally above showing a bit of brutality as a display of defiance and justice, but this was not good politically.

The warrior gave a signal to one of the warriors who sprinted off with impressive alacrity.

"I can only take the message. How she responds is up to her." Tyrande supposed that's all she could ask for, especially after some of their people had for some reason just attacked the Quel'dorei. They had to wait a while. Half an hour in fact, before the golden armored form of Selessa approached them. Tyrande noted with slight alarm the pair of golden horns on the woman's head, poking out of her helmet. That was new and at least somewhat worrying.

Anyone with such outward changes had crossed a threshold that few ever could.

"High Priestess Tyrande." Selessa said with a tired voice. Resurrecting so many people was taking a toll on her, and even her considerable mana reserves were growing low. She had not managed to bring everyone back, yet, but many. She had also managed to reduce the time spent casting the spell by half.

"Would you like to give me a reason why we should not take this as a declaration of war?" Tyrande noted that despite seeming exhaustion, the woman standing in front of her seemed ready to engage in battle.

"This attack was not sanctioned by us. We are still figuring out what happened. We tried to come warn and reinforce you as soon as we got word something was going on, but we obviously arrived too late."

"You think?" Selessa asked, not even trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

"I'm giving you a bit of time to find and punish the culprits before escalating but make no mistake. Our patience is limited, and if no culprit is found or the culprit is not properly punished…" She pointed at the severed heads.

"…we'll do the job ourselves, and we might be less careful about it." Tyrande mentally grimaced. She would need Maiev Shadowsong for this, which was bad as it was her people that were involved in the attack. And they just so happened to hate each other. And how was she going to explain this to Cenarius?

STATUS: Level: 13 3000/13000 EXP 12 Base Points/2 Advanced Points/1 Mastery Points Mandatory Perks: Beauty Over Brawn Body: 11/15 (5 Unspent Perk Points) Athletics 10 Iron Lungs Strength of a Dragon Body of Eternal Dawn Unbreaking Stride Eternal Sunstrider Heavy Weapons 10 Cleaving Strikes Blade of the Rising Sun Unyielding Vigil Fury of the Chosen Bladestorm Durability 10 Immovable object Dragon's Fortitude Unageing Regeneration Healing Factor Reflexes: 10/15 (4 Unspent Perk Point) Light Weapons 10 (4 Unspent Perk Points) Swift Strikes Nervous System 10 Keen Eyes Keen Eye for Hidden Dragon's Perception Sentinel's Eye Danger Sense Dawn's Reflex Subtlety 5 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Arcane Shots Charisma: 18/18 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Politics 17 Competent Underlings Superior Subordinates Shared Vision Intelligent Improvisation Unleased Potential Unlimited Potential Above and Beyond Inspiring Loyalty Improved Resources Rare Resources Treasure Trove Fertile Land Esprit de Corps Conflux Endless Plenty Hardy Stock Social 5 (2 Unspent Perk Points) Pleasure 1 Crafting: 8/12 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Magical Crafting 8 Master of Disassembly Superior Runework Talented Enchanter Master of Efficiency Creation 1 Nature 2 Eye for Errors Eye for Improvement Bonesinging 8 Difference of Kind Amalgamation Amplification Grand Amplification Great Works Regeneration Stronger Than You Think Discipline: 7/12 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Commander 7 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Battlefield Awareness Ambush Expert Cavalry Tactics Squad Leader 5 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Sensei Soldier 6 (2 Unspent Perk Points) One With Your Steed One With Your Steed II Magic: 11/16 (4 Unspent Perk Points) Light 11 (2 Unspent Perk Points) Severe healing Baptism of Light I Baptism of Light II Draconic Magic: Light Arcane 8 (2 Unspent Perk Point) Massive Spells Master Conjurer Spellbreaker 5 Magic Sight Anti-Magic Zone Projected AMZ