First encounter with a bronze dragon

Felix knew they had drawn the attention of the Old Gods or the Infinite Dragonflight.

After all, on Azeroth, generally only the Infinite Dragonflight, which toyed with and altered timelines, and the Void, which liked making all sorts of bizarre prophecies, showed people strange, fantastical visions.

So soon? Felix could not help grumbling to himself. And I'm the one who transmigrated. Why aren't the Old Gods and the Infinite Dragonflight coming after me instead of them?

But this was no time to consider those questions. Shaw and his men were still searching everywhere to the west and could double back at any moment.

So Felix and his group could keep waiting here for their remaining brothers, but they absolutely could not wait too long unless they wanted to be caught in one fell swoop.

"Stay hidden here and rest for a while," he said. "I'll go wait a little longer for Joseph and the others."

Seeing Vladimir about to speak, Dudmore added, "Vladimir, Felix brought us here too, then went back and found you. Let him go."

He returned alone to the place where he had found Dudmore and Vladimir, concealed himself again, and watched everything cautiously in the darkness.

Over the next dozen or so minutes, he did not encounter a single other member of the Defias Brotherhood. Instead, soldiers from Westbrook Garrison and SI:7 agents arrived.

A long procession of torches appeared before him.

"Soldiers, stay sharp! Lord Shaw has already said that if we catch these bandits, our superiors will reward us handsomely!"

"Yes, sir!"

Felix knew he could no longer find Joseph and Bazil. In fact, they had most likely failed to break out and had already been captured by the enemy. So he immediately rose and ran toward the place where his brothers were resting.

"Over there!" A sharp-eyed scout seemed to have noticed his movements and shouted, "Soldiers, catch him!"

Felix immediately ran for his life.

Originally, the enemy had already sandwiched them between two forces, and the Defias would have had a hard time escaping such a manhunt. But now they had left all their enemies behind them. As long as they fled fast enough, they could use the surrounding terrain to shake off their pursuers.

"Don't let him get away!" the soldiers shouted.

Most of the time, rogues were among the fastest classes. Whenever it was time to compete over who had the longest legs, Death Knights and warlocks would excitedly slap their wheelchairs.

Don't let me get away? What are you going to chase me with?

Yet just as Felix was about to leave his pursuers out of sight, a golden beam appeared in the sky with startling abruptness, lighting the forest as brightly as day.

Damn it, what's going on? Extreme shock froze Felix's expression. He knew that with the light this bright, he could forget about shaking off the pursuers behind him.

Yellow sand whirled about unchecked, even striking Felix's young face. In just a few seconds, his shoes and clothes were filled with sand.

He turned back in surprise, only to find that all the soldiers from Westbrook Garrison and the SI:7 scouts had frozen in place, still caught in the act of shouting. Everything around him hung motionless in the air.

Now, only he could move.

Felix knew what had happened.

This was a large-scale time stop!

On Earth, this was merely a scientific fantasy found in novels, films, and games. On Azeroth, however, only one kind of creature could do it-the guardians of time, the Bronze Dragonflight.

A little gnome girl stood in Felix's way. Of course, she could not really be an ordinary gnome.

"You can't do this." The little girl's delicately sculpted face was utterly serious. "This part of history, in which the Defias Brotherhood degenerates into bandits, is necessary. You can't change it. Only by having these bandits put the split Varian through trials in the arena can he grow into the High King of the Alliance."

"Young rogue, I already know who you are." Chromie of the Bronze Dragonflight sounded distinctly unsure of herself as she said this.

Because the later Brotherhood Executive Committee operated on the principle of democratic centralism, quite a few Brotherhood members had gone on to distinguish themselves. Chromie had put in an enormous amount of effort, carefully examining them one by one, before finally identifying the source of the timeline's changes among them.

Then Chromie came to visit Felix.

"I also know you really want to change the course of the entire world and alter the fate of countless people in Westfall and even Lordaeron, so we can tolerate your small-scale meddling. But not with people like Varian and Thrall... They're very important figures, part of the foundation on which all timelines exist. If you stop Varian from becoming the High King of the Alliance, everything will fall into chaos!"

What? Alter the fate of countless people in Lordaeron? Felix was stunned. Right now, all he wanted was to lead his Defias brothers in surviving on the lands of Westfall without harassing the people. He had not considered that much yet.

"Stop trying to change major events that affect the course of the entire world. Those are the pillars of the timeline. Do you understand?"

Felix suddenly remembered the stunts the Bronze Dragonflight had pulled:

Killing Amber Kearnen to ensure that the Burning Legion's false intelligence reached the Alliance, so Varian Wrynn could duly die on the Broken Shore;

Opening the Dark Portal to bring the Horde to Azeroth, so war and destruction could duly be brought to countless people in the Kingdom of Stormwind and Lordaeron;

Giving the Dragon Soul to the orcs to ensure that they could use the Red Dragon Queen to create dragon riders, so the Third Fleet of Kul Tiras could duly be destroyed;

He smiled, crouched down, and patted Chromie's head. "But I have to do this. I have to lead my brothers toward a future of our own, rather than let them bear the shame of being called bandits and robbers!"

"But doing this will destroy the whole world." Chromie's voice was desperately urgent. "Only this one correct timeline can ensure that Azeroth won't ultimately be destroyed."

Destroy the world? Do you think we Defias rogues would believe your nonsense?

Felix merely smiled. "If you want to destroy me, go ahead. Defias rogues can be killed, but we will never choose to give up."

Then he changed tack. "If what you want is to persuade me, you should explain these things more clearly, rather than fob me off with claims like 'destroying the world.'"

He introduced an unrelated topic. "For example, can you tell me what would happen afterward if someone rescued the Red Dragon Queen from Grim Batol ahead of time?"