Half an hour earlier, at the heart of the storm, on the sleeping islands, a forgotten beach quietly awakened.
Several towering stone guardian statues stood there, their surfaces covered in ten thousand years of moss and salt frost.
The instant Onyxia beat her wings for one final charge against the magical barrier, some ancient protocol was activated.
One of the stone statues slowly opened its eyes—Titan-bestowed wisdom gleamed within its sockets.
It sensed the aura of distant dragons, and the mission dormant within it thundered to life.
It stepped onto the mountaintop and arrived before a beacon tower blanketed in moss.
Worn down by time, it turned the dial, but the automated system ran only halfway before failing. Seeing its companions completely petrified by time, with no hope of ever awakening again, it made its final choice.
This Titan construct dug its stone fingers into the cracks in the tower and climbed upward inch by inch.
No magic, no tools—only will and duty.
At last, it reached the summit and pulled the radiant crown of the tower.
"Krrr—boom!"
A golden pillar of light shot into the sky, pierced the clouds, and reached straight into the sea of stars.
The magical storm shrouding the entire sea collapsed at once.
A world that had slept for ten thousand years had finally awakened.
Northrend, Dragonblight Temple.
The Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza stood quietly at the center of the hatching sanctuary, warm Life Magic swirling around her. Her enormous crimson body lowered slightly as she gazed at the hundreds and thousands of dragon eggs—each one wrapped in a gentle halo, nurturing the hope of new life within.
This was one of her rare moments of peace.
As she watched these lives about to hatch, a long-lost gentle smile appeared in her dragon eyes, which