A steady golden glow surrounded Kalec. He was not unconscious, merely unable to move. Worse, once again his very essence was being drained, albeit in a more indiscriminate manner than previous.

But with her other devices and spells unavailable to her, Sinestra now used herself to help focus the energies to their final destination. Through the shard and herself, the mad dragon sent them forth in the form of the black radiance to Dargonax.

The nether dragon was no more, but his essence had not gone to waste. Again, thanks to her efforts, Dargonax had been able to ingest that essence and make himself even more powerful.

"Perfect..." she murmured. "It has all come to pass...."

Then, the one thing that could shatter her insane confidence suddenly flew up from seemingly the dead to approach Dargonax. Sinestra roared her fury at the sight of Korialstrasz. The red was moments from reaching the monstrous figure.

And even from where she stood, Deathwing's consort could sense through the shard she held what Korialstrasz carried with him. It was no longer where her long-ago plotting had dictated. Secreted by the sorcerer under her control, under the guise of another magical attack. Now, her cunning trick to see to it that Alexstrasza's meddling consort would never face her with his full strength or faculties was coming back to haunt her.

If Korialstrasz willingly carried with him the piece of the Demon Soul once infecting him, there could be only one reason. It was a mad plan and surely could not work.

It surely could not...

Sinestra leaned forward. Korialstrasz was no match for Dargonax, no match for what she had wrought. There was no need to do anything but continue draining the blue and using it to feed her child. Dargonax would devour the red much as he had the nether dragon. There was no doubt of that.

And yet...It was Korialstrasz...

Sinestra glared at her creation, seeking any hint of trouble... and found something. Something that had been altered in Dargonax and gave Korialstrasz a chance after all...

Something that only the unique energies of a nether dragon might have caused...

With an outraged shriek, the black dragon held her own shard close to her as she soared after the hated red.

Sinestra's foul get was gargantuan. He was not quite as huge as an Aspect, but he certainly was as massive as Korialstrasz and certainly much more refreshed at the moment.

Nevertheless, the red leviathan did not hesitate. Indeed, it was vital that he close with Sinestra's abomination. Only then could he use the shard and hope that he had guessed right. At this point, there could only be one manner by which Deathwing's consort could control such a monster, the same manner by which Korialstrasz hoped now to destroy the fiend.

The hope was a desperate one and not likely to work, but it was all Korialstrasz had. He doubted Sinestra would leave such a weakness in Dargonax and yet...

The other dragon did not see him, the creature in the midst of diving down to terrorize and destroy the dwarves—and Rhonin and Vereesa, Korialstrasz sensed. That further spurred on the red dragon; he was already certain that Kalec was dead, Kalec who had rightly claimed that too many of those who had become involved with Korialstrasz over the centuries had paid the price for that association. The red dragon could not let that happen to the wizard and the high elf, especially not them.

He bellowed as loud as he could, demanding his foe pay mind to him, nothing else.

The amethyst leviathan obliged him.

"The red one..." Dargonax hissed slyly. "Krasus or Korialstrasz, yes? I sense your great power... your energy..."

Korialstrasz said nothing, soaring toward Dargonax. The fiend sounded as mad as his creator.

The twilight dragon's eyes became silts. "The blue told me you were cunning, but I see only a fool! I will enjoy devouring your essence as I did the nether's—"

"Would you rather not be free?"

Dargonax came up short. Hovering before the oncoming red, he growled, "What do you mean? What trickery is this?"

"She will always command you, always keep your head bowed to her! Would you rather not be free of her mastery, you who are clearly more than any dragon ever born?"

"Oh, yes, I would be free..." Dargonax shimmered, "...but not as you'd like!"

He turned ethereal just before Korialstrasz, with a last, sudden burst of speed, tried to thrust the shard into him. The red dragon flew through his foe.

But even in failure, Korialstrasz learned much. First was that there was no shard inherent in Dargonax's physical form. The second was that the shimmering was not a part of his transformation to the ghostly form. Indeed, when it had happened, the red had sensed something altered at Dargonax's core, something that hinted of another force... one akin to the energies of the dead nether dragon.

The red dragon's hopes renewed. Banking, Korialstrasz turned for a second attempt.

A plume of lava struck him full in the chest. Stunned and out of control, he spun around and around. Only barely did he continue to hold onto the shard, although a part of him wondered if it was worth it.

As his head cleared, he saw Sinestra above Dargonax. The twilight dragon looked from one to the other and the loathing he had for the black was clear to Korialstrasz, although Dargonax was careful to hide it from her.

"For shame, Korialstrasz!" she mocked. "You'll not take my Dargonax away from me!" The black dragon held her paw forward. "He will always be mine...as Azeroth shall be..."

"Your insane dream stops here, Sinestra! Deathwing's insane dream stops here!"

As he had expected, mention of Neltharion threw her into a rage. Wings outstretched, she looked to Dargonax. "He is—" Sinestra unexpectedly paused. "Ah, well done, Korlalstrasz! You did want me to send him at you, did you not?" She cocked her head. "No answer from you? Perhaps this will open your mouth!"

The red dragon roared as his paw suddenly thrashed uncontrollably. He opened his paw—

The shard that he had hoped to use on Dargonax was now no more than a puddle that dripped through the air... and with it went Korialstrasz's last hope.

The moment that the red dragon appeared, Rhonin tried to get the others to flee. Vereesa, however, had another concern. "We must find Iridi...."

With a nod to his wife's sense, the wizard and she rushed off to where he had last seen the draenei, while Grenda reorganized her people in preparation for any attack, even by Dargonax or his creator.

"She should've been near here," the wizard muttered, eyeing the area in exasperation. "She was supposed to stay out of danger...."

The sharp-eyed ranger studied the ground. "Iridi went this direction."

"That leads her back toward Grim Batol. Of course."

With Vereesa in the lead, they raced to where the trail led. Above, the dragons roared, but Rhonin kept his focus on finding the priestess. At this point, the outcome above was in the hands—paws —of Korialstrasz.

But while Rhonin had often had confidence in his mentor, he wondered exactly what the red could possibly do under these extreme circumstances.

"Rhonin!"

Vereesa pointed at a rocky formation just ahead... a rocky formation that was in actuality a body. The two ran to Iridi, certain that she was dead.

But as Vereesa gently turned her over, the draenei let out a low moan. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Does it...still...fly?"

They knew what she meant. Vereesa answered, "The monster still flies, yes."

"Twilight...dragon...that's what I called it..." She coughed. Twilight of the...dragons...of all Azeroth..." Iridi coughed again. "Perhaps..."