Wing and Dragon Soul

"Divine Emissary, ahead lies the territory of Highmountain. This is the land of the Tauren. Their chieftain, Huln Highmountain, led an elite Tauren force to support our rebellion a few days ago. Rumor has it that Huln's combat skills are extraordinary—in several battles, he's left rivers of demon blood from the Burning Legion."

"Ha, isn't that good news? If we had a few more Hulns, we'd crush the Burning Legion easily," Hu Feng replied with a jest.

The Suramar procession made no effort to conceal itself, marching boldly into Highmountain. They planned to rest briefly at the largest Tauren city, Thunder Totem Highlands, before continuing toward the source of the Old Gods' disturbance.

At Thunder Totem, Hu Feng and his group received a warm welcome. Elves and Tauren had become allies, and the straightforward, honest Tauren had always regarded the Central People with a mix of reverence and fear. Now, Suramar's contingent was even more imposing—a host of High Mages, countless Archmages, and those towering, faceless monsters whose constantly writhing tentacles marked them as no weaklings.

Meanwhile, the other two groups sneaking toward Neltharion's lair also caught wind of this news.

Rhonin, Malfurion, and Brox were currently hiding in a massive crevice between rocks. Learning that the Highborne mages of Suramar City and their mysterious, powerful "Divine Emissary" had also arrived, their morale surged considerably.

But Illidan, leading a squad of Felguards alongside Imperial Guard Captain Varoon, wore a far grimmer expression. Friend or foe, if their target was also the Dragon Soul, this mission would become excruciatingly difficult.

Rhonin's group quickened their pace. Days later, they successfully infiltrated the lair of the Earth-Warder, Neltharion.

There, they witnessed a scene of utter madness: a horde of Goblins was slamming armor forged from some unknown metal—still scorching hot—directly onto Neltharion's body. Then, using a massive battering ram, they drove equally enormous iron spikes through the armor and into Neltharion's flesh. Amidst a series of agonized yet strangely gratified dragon roars, Rhonin and the others broke out in cold sweat.

"Though I knew Neltharion had gone mad long ago, seeing it with my own eyes, I still have to say—this lunatic! No one could be crazier than him!"

After this lament, the three carefully ventured deeper into the lair. Finally, in a hidden chamber, they found the Dragon Soul placed at the center. The moment they seized it, a torrent of maddening whispers filled the entire cavern, followed by a roar of absolute fury that echoed across all of Highmountain.

"Who! Who dares touch my artifact! You wretched vermin—I will find you, tear out your souls, and torment them for eternity!"

Rhonin and his companions were terrified out of their wits, and a desperate escape began.

Outside, Hu Feng and the Suramar forces were racing toward Neltharion's lair. Now Hu Feng was certain: the Old Gods' disturbance emanated from this Dragon Aspect. This dragon had likely been corrupted into madness by the Old Gods.

After countless hardships, Rhonin's trio finally burst out of the cave, running straight into the Suramar forces. Rhonin's sharp eyes immediately spotted Hu Feng at the center, and he was overjoyed.

"Divine Emissary! We've retrieved the Dragon Soul! Please help us get out of here!"

Hu Feng looked at them. Malfurion cradled a round, golden object that radiated immense power—even by Titan standards, it was a fine magical artifact. He nodded. "No problem. Let's go. I'll hold off Neltharion."

Rhonin and the others quickly thanked him, then mounted their Night Sabers and sped away.

Just then, a colossal figure burst from the ground, blotting out the sky. Neltharion roared as he launched into the air, the armor on his body still churning with raging flames. His gaze swept around, locking onto the three fleeing thieves growing distant. With a beat of his massive wings, he charged after them.

"Little wretches! I've found you! Don't think you can escape! You will—"

But before he could finish, a beam of black Void Energy slammed into Neltharion, sending him tumbling backward like a kicked ball. Then a giant hand of pure energy gripped him tightly, yanking him back to the ground and smashing him before Hu Feng and the crowd. The Faceless Ones encircled him, unleashing a barrage of weakening and Mind Magic into the dragon, sapping his strength while probing for the Old Gods' energy signature to pinpoint their location.

The mages received orders to storm Neltharion's lair, plundering the dragon's hoard and capturing the Goblins—these were talents in forging that couldn't be wasted.

"Elves! You will pay for this! You'll regret it! You—"

"Shut it, little dragon. I only planned to use you to track down the Old Gods. If you keep yapping, I'll kill you once I'm done searching," Hu Feng said with a snap of his fingers. Neltharion's massive jaws were instantly sealed by energy, and he was slammed hard into the ground.

Old Gods? What do the Old Gods have to do with me?

Wait!

As Neltharion gradually calmed, a flicker of reason returned. The ceaseless whispers in his ears had vanished since this elf-like being appeared! And the aura emanating from this creature... it felt like the Creator God, a Titan?

"Heh... Long ago, my kin granted you power, civilized you, made you Dragon Aspects. Now it seems... not the wisest decision, eh? Look at yourself—slowly corrupted by the Old Gods, sinking into madness. How pathetic." Hu Feng sneered, staring at Neltharion's enormous dragon head.

The latter was utterly dumbfounded...

What? A real Titan? You've got to be kidding!

Just then, a Faceless One moved to Hu Feng's side, transmitting a mental message: Four Old Gods participated in the corruption. The primary corrupter, N'Zoth, and another Old God were too cunning—they sensed trouble and retreated too quickly to be tracked.

The locations of the remaining two have been found. One is C'Thun, the Thousand-Eyed Demon, in the Angerla region at the continent's far southwest. The other is Yogg-Saron, the Thousand-Mawed Beast, in Northrend at the continent's far north.

Both were distant, but Hu Feng wasn't in a hurry. The two Old Gods, sensing something amiss, had gone into dormancy, trying to hide their presence. Since Old Gods rooted in a planet couldn't move, they weren't going anywhere. He'd deal with them when he had time.

With the information he needed, Hu Feng turned to Neltharion, who was shaking his head, trying to clear his mind.

"As for you, little dragon, how should I deal with you? If you hadn't met my mortal incarnation today, you'd have fallen completely into madness before long."

Neltharion immediately lifted his head. "I... the Old Gods' whispers are constantly eroding my mind. I can feel my sanity shattering... I can't bear it much longer... Please help me! Supreme Titan! We were your first chosen!"

"Silence!" Hu Feng frowned and spoke softly. The dragon instantly fell quiet like an obedient child.

"The corruption on you is too deep to purge. There's only one way now: I'll guide and reshape the Void corruption within you so you won't fall into madness so easily. But in return, you must give me your freedom and loyalty—you and the entire Black Dragonflight. As long as you are absolutely loyal to me and serve my commands, you can go as mad as you like, as long as you don't defy my orders or disrupt my plans. And you and your dragon offspring will earn the right to ascend to my divine realm after death, becoming higher beings. How about it?"

Neltharion fell into deep thought. Rather than being slowly corrupted by the Old Gods into a mindless madman, since it was unavoidable, pledging loyalty to his original master, the Titan, while retaining limited self-awareness in his madness—though not a complete cure—was the best option.

Only a fool wouldn't see that. Besides, watching the Night Elf mages returning one by one with expressions of sheer envy, he vaguely grasped how precious the promise of ascending to the divine realm after death was.

Just then, Rhonin's trio came stumbling back, the Dragon Soul nowhere in sight.

"Divine Emissary! It's... it's bad! Illidan and the Burning Legion demons stole the Dragon Soul! Deathwing, he... uh..."

Hu Feng looked at their disheveled state and knew they'd barely escaped.

"Spread the word: immediately scatter and hunt down Illidan and the demon forces. They're clever—knowing you'd run back to me, they didn't dare pursue. But that's also their flaw: they'll race back to the capital. Search anyway, but don't get your hopes up." Hu Feng raised an eyebrow. "Still, I'm more curious about what you just called him. Deathwing?" He tilted his head toward Neltharion, sprawled on the ground.

Rhonin was still in shock, muttering to himself. "The seal is broken? I couldn't say it before... Deathwing! Neltharion! The Wing! The Wing!"

"Hmph... ignorant little insects. I've lifted your seal. No more hiding now. You'll call me Deathwing in the future? Ha, not bad. I like this new name better than Earth-Warder." Neltharion shook his massive head, sneering and spraying Rhonin with saliva.

"Alright, it seems I've changed another fate in the future. Rhonin, same rules—I hope you keep this secret. After all, you're a witness to new history. And you, elf druid Malfurion, and orc warrior Brox—if you cooperate, we'll meet again in the future." Hu Feng gave them a friendly wink.

"Uh... fine, no problem. Wait! What about the Dragon Soul?"

"If we can't catch Illidan, then we'll just have to take it back in the final battle, won't we?"