Shadow of Death

Alexstrasza approached the Crimson Sanctuary without time to check the situation inside. She had already heard from Kaelen about the attack on the sanctuary, and that the Twilight's Hammer was targeting the unborn Red Dragon. But the root cause of all this atrocity was what she needed to address.

The Queen of Dragons quietly landed in this spot in her sanctuary where she used to meditate. Flowers enclosed a clearing, Alexstrasza carefully stepped into it, feeling the life force flowing through her. This power would be used for the ritual, to bring Deathwing to life.

"Kaelen!" The Lifebinder raised his hand, signaling the Red Dragon following behind him to stop. "Step back. I want you to witness all of this."

"Nothing can make me leave you." Kaelen's voice lacked confidence; he sensed that the upcoming battle was a matter of life and death for the Queen. Life-Binder were highly respected, and the lives they protected were even more reluctant to see her risk injury.

"Don't waste your life, Kaelen," Alexstrasza rebuked sternly. "If I fail, the burden of protecting the world will fall on your shoulders."

The Queen has made her decision. Kaelen knew it clearly in her heart. This was the reason why the Lifebinder were so great.

"Yes, Mother." Kaelen bowed to Alexstrasza and withdrew.

The Queen of Dragons walked to the center of the ceremony area, silently praying for the Titans' blessings...

"How's it going?"

As soon as Patch finished inscribing the last rune, he heard Nathanos's voice. He turned and bowed, replying, "The magic circle is ready, Master. But..."

"But what?"

"Please don't be angry, I'm not questioning your method, but is it really going to work? After all, Deathwing also knows magic."

Even those skilled in swordsmanship can be killed. They will pay the price. There's no need to worry.

Nathanos looked back at the fortress that had once imprisoned him. The battlements and ramparts of Grim Batol still retained some Orcs influence, but were mostly forged from brutal magic and steel.

An endless cacophony of sounds echoed across the horizon as the Alliance, the Horde, and the Twilight's Hammer clashed. The sounds resembled wailing, rising and falling, coalescing into a malevolent chorus of anguish. Nathanos, however, seemed oblivious, lost in thought.

He had stood here long ago, witnessing the Guardian Dragons defeat Deathwing. Nathanos never imagined he would one day be in the same situation.

The dragon could only exert a pervasive pressure on the Witherer, but it could never intimidate him with its aura. Moreover, he hated the defeated Lich King even more than Deathwing.

Nestled in the cliff face, Nathanos felt a sense of déjà vu and immediately tensed. The pebbles beneath his feet were rhythmically bobbing up and down, and every blade of grass and tree around him seemed to be filled with dread. It was a very subtle change, almost imperceptible.

More than twenty years ago, on the sea connecting Lordaeron Dun Morogh, he was just a short, winding voyage away from entering the Dwarf kingdom. At the time, he was on a mission to escort a mage.

He still remembers the roar echoing across the sea and the sight of a colossal creature breaking through the dark clouds, its massive iron claws locking him in place.

That sense of oppression is just like how I feel now.

"He's here!" Nathanos warned, his eyes searching for the figure in the air.

The air seemed to be churning, and then he saw it.

Two hundred yards away, a cursed figure, a colossal beast, was charging towards them. Behind those eyes, which shone like orange-red flames, seemed to lie a blazing cauldron. Flames swirled around its wings, emitting frenzied smoke. A dark, malevolent aura surrounded it, causing its silhouette to appear and disappear intermittently.

Behind him followed a beautiful being, the complete opposite of himself. Nathanos recognized it at a glance as Alexstrasza.

"Are you afraid?" The Witherer turned to look at the Goblins squad. As he expected, they all wore expressions of fear. Although he had told them many times before what Deathwing was, seeing him in person was still too much for the Goblins to handle with their nervousness.

"Give the order, Master," Patch said first, regaining his composure.

"Everyone hide and wait for the right moment."

The sky seemed to explode, the battle between the Twilight Dragon and the Red Dragon was particularly spectacular. The Queen of Dragons's magic clashed with Deathwing's. Below lay Grim Batol. Alexstrasza was once enslaved here, and Deathwing also carried out his schemes here.

"This pains me, Neltharion!" Alexstrasza repelled Deathwing with the horns on her head, "But I must end you, just as I ended Malygos."

"End me?" Deathwing's sarcasm was palpable, his laughter filled with undisguised contempt. Alexstrasza's attacks were ineffective. "Lifebinder, you think you can truly take my life? Weak, fleeting, fragile! Life must end. Death is merely the middle, death is eternity, death is my domain!" The Black Dragon Aspect suddenly lashed out with his tail, striking the Queen of Dragons in the abdomen.

Alexstrasza felt the pain burning within her, while Neltharion continued his mad pronouncements. "Confront me, confront the embodiment of death, the destroyer of worlds!"

The Queen of Dragons's eyes blazed with fury, and she heard the metallic clanging of Deathwing. The Worldbreaker was bearing a burden beyond comprehension. Cracks appeared in the repeatedly repaired armor as the wearer became increasingly agitated, and flames and magma spewed from the fissures.

"What a waste that our once great ally is now just an empty shell!" Alexstrasza shouted.

"Then witness to my power, witness to the blessings of God the world!"

The two dragons grappled once more, no longer relying on magic, but attacking each other with their claws and teeth, returning to the most primal way of fighting. This was the way they survived when they were both Proto-Dragon.

The Red Dragon's attacks left clear gashes on the black dragon's armor, sometimes piercing into the flesh beneath the steel, where the heat was intense. Neltharion's metal claws were far more lethal. After several attacks, the Queen of Dragons's scales were either broken or fell off. But Alexstrasza 'Will will only grow stronger with each wound.

"Look at yourself, Neltharion. Broken, twisted! You are shattered!"

The two dragon kings attacked each other with all their might, seemingly convinced that only one person could leave alive today.

The battle raged from the sky to the ground, with neither of the giant beasts relying on their wings, as if they were using the same force they used to flap their wings to kill each other. They grappled and tumbled down the mountaintop above Grim Batol.

The outcome is decided at this moment.

Exhausted, Alexstrasza released Neltharion. She was too weak to even maintain her dragon form. The Queen of Dragons fell to the edge of the cliff, severely wounded in her High Elf form. Behind her, Deathwing, like a kite with a broken string, plummeted off the cliff. An explosion marked his demise.

"Mother!" Kaelen flew to the Queen of Dragons's side. He couldn't see any wounds on his mother's body, but he could sense how serious the Life-Binder's injuries were.

"The Earth-Warder ... he's dead." Alexstrasza's voice trembled, and it was hard to tell if she was crying.

"Please don't move, Mother. You are badly injured."

The Female Elf lying on the ground nodded, waiting for Kaelen to heal her.

It's all finally over. The nightmare brought by Deathwing can finally be sealed away forever.

Kaelen was preparing to slowly channel life energy into Alexstrasza when a sudden roar interrupted his spell, even disrupting his senses. "Deathwing... he's still alive!"

"This is impossible!" Alexstrasza heard the voice too. The figure gradually appearing on the horizon made all living things feel the impending danger of death. She was already severely wounded, while Neltharion appeared to be completely unharmed.

"The sunset of the mortal world has ended. Accept your end peacefully. The Hour of Twilight has arrived."