Path of Time

The world was deathly silent. There was no life, not even the sound of the wind. Nathanos stepped out of the time portal and surveyed the scene before him. He wanted to ask Malygos where this was, but the expression on the Infinite Dragon's face told the Witherer he should know where he was!

Yes, how could he not know? Nathanos's eyes were fixed on that enormous, hideous body. The sky of Northrend seemed to be engulfed in flames; the alloy armor on that body was so massive, yet it appeared so weak and powerless, unable to move an inch. Deathwing had already been pierced by the towering spires of the Wyrmrest Temple.

The black dragon is dead? Does this mean Azeroth has won again? Nathanos quickly realized that wasn't the case. He struggled to tear his gaze away from Deathwing and saw more, more corpses.

Dead, all dead. Death was everywhere his eyes fell—humans, Orcs ...and the Forsaken! Nathanos felt as if he were atop a giant tomb. Dragonblight hadn't originally been teeming with life; they had all come to destroy Deathwing. If this could be called a victory, it was a victory paid a heavy price.

"How many people have died?" An uneasy feeling stirred within Nathanos. What he saw before him was only a part of the story. What was the true state of the war?

"All?"

"All!"

Malygos's merciless voice sent shivers down the spine of the Witherer. So, everyone's dead? Nathanos shook his head, refusing to accept the answer from the Infinite Dragon. Deathwing was dead, meaning someone had defeated him, meaning someone was still alive. The Witherer frantically searched for life, even a single plant.

He saw the wreckage of the Skybreaker, the Alliance airship that had played a crucial role in the attack on Icecrown Citadel. Now it lay tumbling into the snow, half of its hull still suspended in the air, its mangled remains hanging haphazardly from it.

This proves nothing!

Nathanos rushed down the hillside where he was, quickly approaching the battlefield. He thought that he hadn't seen clearly, so his judgment might not be accurate. That was the only way he could comfort himself now.

The corpses of the Forsaken were as numerous as those of the Alliance and Horde soldiers; his Deathstalker, his Terror Guard, and his Dark Ranger were all dead.

Nathanos found the body of Ohan, the Ogre Sword. The young Orcs possessed strength many times greater than her kind. She was covered in blood, her body mutilated beyond recognition, yet her face retained the valiant expression of battle. Before she died, her sword had pierced the chest of a Tauren wearing blue armor.

Not far from Ohan, Nathanos spotted Meryl, the mage completely frozen. The Witherer gently touched him. A shattering sound shattered all of Nathanos's illusions; Meryl turned to icy dust and vanished into the sky.

"No!" The Witherer knelt on the ground, utterly shocked and unable to believe what he was seeing. "This is not a victory at all; the whole world has perished with him!"

"Your eyes have deceived you, Nathanos." Malygos approached, and the Witherer's reaction was the same as when he first saw the End of Time.

"What do you mean?" Nathanos turned and asked.

"Azeroth failed, everyone failed. Deathwing wasn't destroyed by others, he took his own life."

"So this is the state of the world after Deathwing's victory?" Nathanos felt like he'd been punched hard. At the End of Time, Deathwing won, and he ended his own life in the most insane way.

Malygos nodded. "He called this moment the Twilight Judgment."

"And what about you?" Nathanos stood up and grabbed the Time Lord's arm. The Guardian Dragons possessed the power of the Titans; how could they allow this to happen? Why didn't they stand up and stop it?

Malygos shook his head. "We did our best."

Nathanos's hand fell limply from the arm of the Infinite Dragonlord. He stared intently at Malygos. A terrifying thought grew clearer in his mind—could it be that even the Guardian Dragons...

The two exchanged a glance, and Nathanos knew his suspicions had been confirmed. He was led by Malygos to the Dragon Sanctuary surrounding the temple. The sanctuary was littered with the corpses of powerful guardians.

On the Ruby Dragonshrine, Alexstrasza was drained of her life force, leaving only skeletons scattered across the mountains and fields. If it weren't for her unique horns and the gems hanging from her jawbone, Nathanos would never have recognized her.

A blue Guardian Dragons was charred beyond recognition by Arcane Magic in the Azure Dragonshrine. With Malygos's death, the blue dragons clearly had another guardian.

The death of Ysera, the Dream Queen, plunged the Emerald Dragonshrine into eternal darkness.

And then there Bronze Dragon. Nathanos didn't go to the Bronze Dragon's sacred site again; the former Time Lord stood beside him. The Witherer had always wondered when the Infinite Dragon were born, and now he finally knew: at this very moment.

Was this destined to happen?

"At least as things stand now, yes."

Nathanos felt a chill; he couldn't immediately accept the cruel reality. "I've faced Deathwing, and I know him. The power they used to kill Alexstrasza and the others was the Guardians' unique ability; Deathwing didn't have that power."

"Didn't you get the answer from Onyxia?"

"Chromatus?" Nathanos thought of the Chromatic Dragon. Was that really Deathwing's ultimate weapon against the Guardians?

"You haven't witnessed the horror of that monster. He is a nightmare that no dragon can escape. All the guardian dragons combined are no match for him."

"This is impossible!" Nathanos roared. "Chromatus is nothing but a created experimental subject. You are the Titans' chosen guardians. How could you possibly not be able to defeat him?"

"Because Chromatus possesses five powers, while the guardian dragons only have four!"

Silence enveloped them; neither knew what to say. It was a catastrophic fact. Nathanos looked up at Deathwing; the missing fifth force was the source of all this calamity.

"Without the Black Dragon's help, we simply cannot defeat Chromatus. We lost this battle from the very beginning; resistance is futile and pointless."

Nathanos blinked. He had to gather the power of all five Guardian Dragons? Could all five Guardian powers really turn things around? Malygos's words, though filled with helplessness, unexpectedly reminded Nathanos.

"Gather five powers: life, magic, dreams, time, and earth? As long as I have them..."

Could this change the End of Time?

"You brought me here hoping I could come up with a way to change the End of Time, right?"

Malygos looked at Nathanos with weary yet expectant eyes. "Of course, I sincerely hope you can find a way. After all, someone once told me that you are the future champion of Azeroth."

Nathanos didn't know when this title had been attached to him, but he had indeed come up with a plan. "I do have one, though the hope is extremely slim, perhaps even ridiculous, but I must try, I must embark on the Path of Time again."